Night Watchmen 102: Pearls Before Swine
by Ironbear
Summary: High school starts with a bang for the Gang in early September when a new Biology teacher enthralls the girls, causing them slowly to change, requiring Oz and Xander to figure out how to rescue their girlfriends from a new teacher's pernicious influences.
1. Prologue: Biology or Chemistry?

_**An Alternate BtVS Season 3:**_ **"Mortal Friends; Mortal Foes"**

_**Author:**_ Sherman Barnes aka "Ironbear" _**Coauthor**_: Richard Caine

_**Disclaimer:**_ _Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel the Series, and all characters from those series belong to Mutant Enemy, Joss Whedon, 20th Century Fox Television, Kuzui Enterprises, UPN, Warner Brothers, and David Greenwalt Productions. I'm only borrowing them for the purposes of fanfiction, and only the plot and storyline, and those characters of my own creation belong to me. No profit is being made from this endeavor. Faith's back story draws __loosely__ from that shown in "Go Ask Malice: A Slayer's Diary" by Robert Joseph Levy; Simon Spotlight Entertainment. Episode events and episode dialog quotes, where used, are drawn from the transcripts and summaries at , Wikipedia, and the shooting scripts at (__.__)_

_**Author's Note: **__What if Faith had arrived earlier in Sunnydale and Buffy had returned a month later? What if the Mayor had had a slightly different goal? What if Spike never made it out of town following the love spell disaster, but met a different fate? Just how far apart is the line between "good slayer' and "evil slayer"? Diverges drastically from canon in many places, especially following "Lover's Walk" and "Bad Girls"._

**_Summary:_**_High school starts with a bang for the Gang in early September when a new Biology teacher enthralls the girls, causing them slowly to change into their animalistic selves. Meanwhile, Oz and Xander must figure out how to rescue their girlfriends from the new teacher's influence - __without __becoming statistics for the SHS newspaper's obituary column_._Dacascos counter moves cause additional problems for Faith and the Nightwatchmen. Buffy and Pike tentatively make up and come to terms, while Doyle continues to attempt to draw Buffy back into slaying..._

_**Note:** This fic picks up immediately following the events of "Terminate and Stay Resident". No rest for the wicked nor the watchmen._

_**Word Count:**_80,498_ total. _77,882_ sans Disclaimer, Previouslies, and Credits._

**"Night Watchmen"**

_**Mortal Friends, Mortal Foes -**_

**A Buffy the Vampire Slayer Alternate Season 3**

_**Previously on Buffy the Vampire Slayer:**_

_Sunnydale High: "Whatcha gonna do to make us, Xan?" Parker steps in again as Xander catches his balance, putting his hands up for another shove. __A clinical part of Xander's brain notes that somehow, facing vamps, demons, and Nightgaunts seems to be less unnerving than dealing with three overage high school toughs. In a movement inspired more by desperation and sheer terror than by conscious thought, he sidesteps slightly, seeing his right hand come over and across as if it belongs to someone else. With a kind of bizarre detachment, he watches his closed fist smash into Parker's jaw with the full weight of his back and shoulder behind it. Parker's eyes roll up into the back of his head and he staggers backwards, crashing to the floor a piece at a time like a marionette with its strings cut. 'Wow,' __Xander thinks, dazedly, 'That was some hit.' Rubbing his knuckles and looking down in amazement at Parker, everything suddenly goes all awhirl around Xander as he feels a pair of hands grab him by the front of his jacket and spin him around to slam him up against the lockers. He's vaguely aware of Jonathan scuttling out of the way as his head smacks into the steel locker door behind him. "Oh, wow," Jack stares up at him, his head cocked curiously to one side. "That was really fucking stupid, bro. You freaking retarded or something?"_

_Sunnydale High: "Hey, stranger," a familiar voice says over her shoulder. Glancing around, she is pleasantly surprised to see Aura and Tamara standing at the end of her table with their own deli trays. "Mind if we join you?" Cordelia arches an eyebrow. "What, get separated from the thundering herd?" Aura laughs, "Something like that." Tamara says, "More like we cut out of the herd as it bleated on" Glancing at Aura, she adds, "We suddenly remembered we signed on to be Cordettes, not Harmonettes."_

_Sunnydale High: "Right." Lance states, nodding enthusiastically. "So, tonight?" Jonathan shake his head. "Tomorrow night, if it's finished and debugged by then. Still need some work on the code - I have Shane coming over to help me tweak it." Freddy frowns at him. "Shayne? Man, we don't need any more people involved, do we?" Jonathan replies, smiling. "Relax. __He__ thinks it's for a game AI I'm trying to develop. And I really need another programmer to help on this part." Lance gives him a half hopeful, half impressed look, "Oh, ok. Uh... did you manage to get the magic worked in too? We __need__ the realism, you know."_

_Sunnydale: "It occurs to me that determining how to best impart your training to the others will also help to solidify your own grasp of the techniques and skills involved," Giles tells her. He inclines his head slightly, "I will of course stand ready to assist in areas outside your familiarity." Faith scowled at him. "Right. Giles, I'm no trainer, c'mon," she says, spreading her hands out. "There is an ancient saying," Giles remarks, his eyes twinkling, "That one only truly learns a thing once one has taught it to others." Xander starts to snicker, only to quickly hide it in a coughing fit when Faith shoots him a murderous look. Opening her mouth and closing it again, Faith gives Giles a suspicious look. "This is revenge for earlier today, isn't it."_

_Sunnydale: "No, we came here to make money and accumulate influence," Dacascos said. It was getting to be an old argument between them. He inclined his head towards Rhoden and his computers, "Which we are doing quite nicely, I might add." Ice smirked, studying the bigger vampire to watch his reaction. "Yeah," Lohse acknowledged. "While the Slayer and her buddies run around picking off our distribution houses and denting our damned profits." Dacascos shrugged, "Distribution houses we set up as decoys to be taken down and keep her happy and occupied." He sighed, "However, she has taken to hunting down our roving distributors and their guards. That is annoying." Lohse states, "Which is why we should kill her now." Dacascos pointedly studied the bald vampire's scar for a long moment rather than responding immediately. If he'd had circulation, the bigger vampire would have flushed. As it were, he scowled instead. "I usually don't mix into this," Ice says in a calm voice, "But Lohse here does have a bit of a point. Why aren't we killing her?" Dacascos regards him evenly. "I intend to. Once I'm certain that we're established well enough to weather the influx of new demons and master vampires, as well as the increased attention from the Watcher's Council that a... suddenly slayerless Hellmouth will bring," Dacascos says..._

_Sunnydale High: "Genius," Freddy says. "Ok, so.. run it already." Lance nods eagerly. "Right." Jonathan nods, grinning a bit nervously. Moving the cursor, he picks a simulation from the menu and clicks to start it running. All of them wait impatiently, holding their breaths as the little hourglass comes up and cycles. Outside, a particularly nasty thunderhead from the storm they'd almost forgotten about centers itself over the school - and the associated Hellmouth beneath the library not far away - lightning flickering in its depths. There is an almost deafening ripping sound as a bolt sears out of the huge thundercloud to strike a nearby electrical pole and transformer unit. Lights dim all over the school and the surrounding neighborhoods. The three teens jump at the thunder crack right on the heels of the lightning strike, sounding like it's almost right next to them. Jonathan's eyes widen as he sees the 'network connection' icon flash several times, denoting that the connection to the main servers is going iffy. "Oh, shit," he says. Jonathan slides out of his chair, ducking under the table to check the network cabling. He doesn't think it came loose, but he figures it doesn't hurt to make sure. There wasn't much he could do if it was the strike causing the connection to go wonky... Another even more massive strike hits the top of the school above the library before arcing over into the transformer, sending a surge down through the school's wiring. Above Jonathan, the lights dim then flicker out and the system's monitor pulses suddenly. He heard Lance and Freddy's chairs slide back and away from the monitor, seeing their feet go to either side as they get out from in front of the screen. There comes another strike, the screen pulses again and then blows out in a hail of glass, scorched plastic, and foul smelling electrical smoke..._

_Sunnydale Mall: "Ok, so let me get this straight," Cordelia says, tapping her chin with a finger nail. "I've been roped in to help do a secret Willow make-over with you?" Faith nods, giving her a guileless look, "Yup." Willow shrinks in on herself a bit as Cordelia cocks her head, giving the red head a critical once over. Judging by her expression, Willow obviously expects a scathing remark or wisecrack. "And it was a big secret so we could surprise everyone," Cordelia remarks, continuing her critical examination. Willow shrinks a bit farther. "A-yup." Faith nods again, sticking her hands in her back pockets and smirking at the cheerleader. "Wow." Cordelia breaks out into her dazzling thousand watt grin, nodding enthusiastically. "About damn' time, jeeze." Hooking her arm through Willow's, she heads off down the mall corridor, sweeping the red head along with her. Faith trails along after, snickering under her breath..._

_Sunnydale: "Boring me, more like," the girl - Rochelle? - calls back, laughing. She pulls her arm out of Faith's grasp with an almost contemptuous ease. Eyes narrowing, Faith steps straight into the other girl's space. Someone grabs her shoulder to pull her away, and Faith jabs backwards with an elbow almost casually, sending the guy stumbling back and gasping. Cordelia steps back a bit further as the muttering intensifies. "This is gonna end, tonight," Faith states. "Oh, please," Rochelle's eyes roll. "I gave you your boys back. There's plenty for both of us." The music lowers slightly, making it easier to hear. "Yeah, well, you're killing yours," Faith yells. She drops her voice a bit as the lowered music volume registers on her. "Can't have that." "Killing?" The brunette frowns, looking confused. "Not my fault if their coding is too faulty to handle disruptions to their spark." Cordelia can't see Faith's expression from where she was, but she could picture the Slayer's eyes-narrowed combat smirk. "Disruptions? Disrupt this," Faith snarls, her right fist coming out and across in a blurring movement from out of nowhere. Rochelle stumbles back, almost falling until she crashes into the circle of guys behind her. Several of them go down as she catches herself. The other girl... flickers, is the only description Cordelia can come up with. Like a disrupted hologram on one of those bad sci-fi programs Xander is always trying to get her to watch with him... Moving up, Faith nails her again with a straight body shot from the other hand and as Rochelle flickers once more, everything suddenly goes sideways on them..._

_Sunnydale High: As soon as she gets close enough that Jonathan couldn't possibly manage to bolt before she snags him, Faith's eyes narrow and she yells out, "Levinson!" Reaching out as she stalks up, Faith grabbed the dark haired kid by the collar of his leather jacket and casually tosses him behind her and out of the way as Jonathan throws a wild eyed look in her direction. The 'casual' toss lands a startled Jack O'Toole almost eight feet behind her on his ass on the rough flagstones. "You and me, Jonathan," Faith states. "We're gonna have words." Jonathan turns even paler and squeaks. "Hey!" A half snarled shout from behind her causes Faith to turn slowly to see the teenager she'd tossed stalking up to her with his face red and his mouth twisted. "No one just throws me outta the way, bitch." He steps in fast, bringing his left hand around in a hard, quick overhand punch at her face. Faith casually leans out of the way, bringing her left forearm up and across to sweep the punch on past and down, and brings her own right over in a short uppercut that intersects briefly with O'Toole's jaw and dumps him on his back six feet away again, unmoving. "Was I talking to you?" Faith asks mildly, raising her eyebrows. Spinning back to Jonathan, she pins him in place with her eyes just as he's standing and looking ready to start sidling off. "Freeze, Jonno." Jonathan freezes in place and Faith grabs a handful of his collar, half dragging him past the unconscious O'Toole, across the courtyard and to the smaller alcoves past the arched entrance to the Quad..._

_"Cool." Refilling her cup and fixing it with lemon and sugar, she takes a couple of cookies and leans back, studying him carefully as Giles sets the book down gently on the sofa for later re-shelving. "Ok, let's do this. Gotta warn you: I'm kinda rusty on this homework thing." Giles nods. "All right. We'll, err, endeavor to work around that failing as needed," he says with a tiny smirk. Faith laughs. "Cool. Umm, what do we need to do?" she says, one eyebrow raised. "My Solicitor took the liberty of preparing and couriering me preliminary forms for the options we've been discussing to look over," Giles states. "We can sign those and send them back to him to start the process, and he'll return us permanent documents to be signed and filed." Faith says, "Works," dimpling at him. "Man, gotta say - between training, slaying, and everything else, things're gonna be kinda busy, y'know?" Pursing his lips thoughtfully, Giles nods. "Well, at the very least, it opens up one recourse. As the named guardian of a home schooled teenager, I can prevail upon the school board to allow you to be on campus during school hours so that I may attend to your schooling in between my other duties. Since you seem to be determined to be there regardless, we may as well spend the time profitably." He pauses, "They probably won't __like__ the arrangement, but that can be worked around."_

**................................................**

**Prologue: Biology or Chemistry? **

_**Monday September 14, 1998; Biology Classroom 132, Sunnydale High School, 3:20 P.M.**_

Harmony Kendall was not precisely a good student. Not even a mediocre student, really. In fact, there was only one thing Harmony really excelled at, and that was the fine and time honored art of schmoozing, ie: looking pretty and social engineering. In her own mind that had saved her grades and her social standing more than once after embarrassing events, and was what made her the undisputed new mistress of Sunnydale High.

Harmony was also more than a bit lacking in awareness. It never _quite_ registered on her that her social standing meant that people snickered at her behind her back after the various embarrassing events, rather than to her face. Nor that a lot of her grades had less to do with her social prowess at schmoozing than with the reluctance of Sunnydale High School's teacher population being unwilling to get on Principle Snyder's bad side by failing the daughter of one of Sunnydale High's wealthier Alumni.

After all, annoyed alumni tend to vote against school appropriations and expenditures at City Planning Board meetings. _Much_ simpler to pass the pretty and somewhat vacuous blonde on just as long as she managed to maintain scores at least within shouting distance of passing, and let whatever college ended up with her deal with it later.

As far as social engineering was concerned, it never really entered Harmony's mind that the defection of two of the top former Cordettes left her recent position in the SHS hierarchy not quite 'undisputed'. After all, Cordelia Chase was openly dating a _geek_. Anyone that gravitated back to her was gaining geek creds by association, and losing status creds. The possibility that the currents of what constituted 'coolness' and 'power' in Sunnydale High might possibly realign themselves into new configurations was so far outside of Harmony's world view it may as well not exist.

To Harmony's mind, with Cordelia out of the picture, winning the social battle wasn't even really all that much of an effort any more. A pity that, but it did leave her with a little more free time on her hands. Time to do things like address _lesser_ issues; such as her unexpectedly abysmal grades in Senior Biology. The new Biology teacher just hadn't seemed to learn yet that that just wasn't _done_, and it was _so_ not fair.

With the last of the class already filed out and the main lights dimmed, the classroom was actually quite dark when she poked her head in. Looking left to right at the empty desks and various equipment strewn across the vacant lab tables she wrinkled her nose a little. _Science_ had a stink of something other than formaldehyde. It smelled like work. And nerds. Oh well, that's what she was here to fix.

"Mr. Hideyoshi?" she called. She could hear slight rummaging sounds from the back of the room, so she knew someone had to be there.

"Mr. Hideyoshi?" Harmony called again. There was a rustle in the back and the short, suited form of Hideyoshi came around the corner from the small Biology supply room. Of course, the way he came around the corner at high speed startled her enough that she stood up straight. Hideyoshi gave her a dubious look when he pulled up short upon spotting her.

Hideyoshi was a recent transfer from somewhere in the mid-west, Chicago perhaps. He apparently was a career teacher, judging from his introduction to his classes. Still fit, handsome in an 'old guy' sort of way, Harmony guessed, almost athletic, but aging: his hair had numerous silver streaks through it, more gray than black now. His other main quirk was was being always immaculately dressed, almost like that creepy English librarian guy. Harmony wondered idly how he managed to afford clothes like that on a teacher's salary.

Oh well, Harmony gave a mental shrug. Good fashion sense was _so_ rare these days that anyone with even a drop of it was like a welcome breath of fresh air. Especially in this place. It was so much not fair that Daddy wouldn't spring for tuition to private school...

"Ms. Kendall," he stated. "To what do I owe the after classes pleasure of your visit?"

"Well," Harmony hedged a little, fidgeting cutely. She was _certain_ it was 'cutely': it _always_ worked on the football players and coaches. At least the male coaches. "I was hoping we could maybe talk about my last set of grades. Like, the ones on the first pop quiz last Thursday?"

"I see little to talk about," Hideyoshi said, seeming mildly amused. "Your inability to answer even a single question correctly dictated your absolute and abject failure on that test. One is _tempted_ to presume that you hadn't even bothered to study," he added in a dry voice.

"But that's just what I was coming to talk to you about!" Harmony interjected with a slightly panicked expression. "Look, when my mom and dad find out I flunked, they're just going to _kill_ me."

"Somehow I doubt that," Hideyoshi remarked with a flat voice and a raised eyebrow. "At worst I'd venture that they might actually be forced to require you to take your studies seriously, by possibly monitoring your homework."

Harmony's eyes widened, indicating that that possibility hadn't even crossed her mind. Her expression took on a slightly more desperate tinge.

"Please," Harmony asked, giving him her best whipped puppy look. "Isn't there anything that I can do to, like, make it up or something? I'll study this time, honest!"

Hideyoshi stood still for a moment, studying her. Finally, he pursed his lips, sighing, and adjusted his diamond patterned cuff-links. A subtle golden light played across the silvery metal of the jewelry, barely visible even in the dim and gloomy classroom. Harmony felt a slight wave of dizziness overtake her for a split second, which was followed by a sense of relaxation.

"Perhaps something could be arranged," Hideyoshi said with a slight smirk. "Why don't we discuss it?"

"Why _don't_ we discuss it!" Harmony said in agreement, her voice chirping. If there was more than a normal emptiness to her expression, it was doubtful that even her close friends might notice it.

**................................................**

_**Monday September 14, 1998; Hallways, Sunnydale High School, 3:30 P.M.**_

Catching sight of Cordelia headed across the Quad towards the entrance, Faith lengthened her stride a bit to catch up. Linking her arm through the taller girl's, she glanced up, purring, "Hey sexy. Going my way?"

"Hah!" Cordelia gave her a startled look then grinned. "More like you're _so_ going _mine_. In a totally _non_-inuendo way that _you_ can't seem to manage, of course."

"Awww... " Faith leaned in against her friend, mock pouting. "You say that _now_, Princess. But I'm gonna love watching you eat those words one of these days. Among other things."

"Eeew! As if!" Cordelia pulled her arm away with a disgusted sniff. A small group of grinning jocks and a cluster of other students smirking at them caught her gaze, turning Cordelia's eye roll into a frosty glare. Favoring the onlookers with an insincere and blinding grin, she threw her arm around Faith's waist saying, "We're just good friends," pause, "Honest." When a couple of the grins widened into smirks, her eyes narrowed and she added, "Get a camera, perverts. Better yet - get lost before I start taking scalps."

Faith threw her head back, laughing, as the hapless jocks favored with the glare hastily looked anywhere except at the two of them. "Still got it, C."

"Well, of _course_," Cordelia said, withdrawing her arm from around Faith. Switching the glare to the shorter girl, she shook her head slightly. "And _you_ - _unlike_ you, _**I**_ still have a reputation to maintain. Brat."

"Yeah, I've heard about you girls with '_reputations'_," Faith replied, grinning. Pushing one handed on the door, she skipped through lightly next to the other girl. Turning at other side in the general direction of the library, she changed topics, "Swing by Jeeves to snag the gang for training on the way out?"

"No point," Cordelia said. "Xan had an end of the day free period so he took off to get started on some things there, and Will and Oz said they were going to go do something at Oz's house after school before meeting us."

"Ah. Works," Faith said, glancing around almost involuntarily in an effort to see if she could spot Scott on their way through the lunchroom. Catching herself, she gave a mental eye roll. Not that any excuse to bump into Scott was a _bad_ thing, necessarily. Matter of fact, it was surprising to her just how non-horrible the idea was. In a sappy, mushy and disgusting kind of way... Definitely new ground for Faith in the relationship arena, that's for sure.

"So, how're things with the new 'boy toy'?" Cordelia asked.

"Mind reading? That's downright creepy, C," Faith laughed, shaking her head.

"Well, unless you're on Snyder lookout, I can't think of any other reason your head would be swiveling like a gun turret," Cordelia said, smirking.

"Me an' the great white Hope? Normal, I guess. Today was kinda the first time I've seen him since that mess at the Bronze last week," Faith shrugged. "Not that I'm a real good judge of 'normal' or nothing."

"Good, in a 'at least that means you're not lusting after _my_ boyfriend' kind of way," Cordelia stated.

"Moi? Or at least, not _just_ lusting after the Xander, anyway," Faith rejoined, grinning.

"_See_ how you are? Earlier you were lusting after me, now I'm thrown over _already_," Cordelia shot back. "Tramp."

"Hah! Shows you for playing hard to get. Ice Queen," Faith said, laughing. Pausing she added, "Scott and I're supposed to hook up at the Bronze later tonight if he's still there when we finish training and patrol."

"Well... I'd wish you luck," Cordelia stated. The thousand watt grin flashed on for a moment, "But around here that'd probably backfire."

"Yup. Life in Sunnyhell," Faith said, her expression wry. "Home of the drug dealing vamps, demon gangsters, horrible smelling corpse eating freaks and the ever popular computer sex toys."

"Look on the bright side - you've been baptized already now," Cordelia said, shaking her head. "It only gets stranger from here." Pausing thoughtfully, she added, "You seem to have gone native fast, though. Sad how quickly you can adjust, huh?"

"I'm like, all adaptable and shit," Faith said, spreading her arms in an expansive gesture. "I like to look at it as being able to 'expand my horizons' quickly." Glancing sidelong at Cordelia she asked, "How 'bout you and the Xan?"

"The same," Cordelia said. "We cut Lit to go have lunch together and made up."

"Cool," Faith nodded. Spotting Willow leaning against one of the front pillars, she angled them in that direction. "Heya, Red." Faith raised her eyebrow at Willow's extremely drab clothing. "Hmm. What's with the look, Will? Figured you'd be wearing some of the new stuff?"

"Hey!" Willow, who had obviously not been paying attention to her surroundings gave a high pitched squeak as she looked up from her survey of the front lot. "Oh, um, hi guys? Waiting for Oz to bring the van around." Registering Faith's question, Willow flushed slightly, "Umm..."

"She wussed out," Cordelia supplied, rolling her eyes. "All that new wardrobe and not like a _single_ piece of it on."

"Relax, Red," Faith said with a shake of her head. "But the Queen has a point. Figured you'd be showing off the new plumage today."

"Um..." Willow paused for a moment. Her face turned slightly more scarlet. "WellIwas_going_tobutIwas worriedaboutwhattheywouldlooklike."

"If I heard that right," Cordelia said, a frown of concentration gracing her features briefly. "She was stressing about what it would look like."

Willow nodded. Faith cut her eyes at Cordelia, "Thanks. I _am_ learning how to translate Willow-speak, though."

Cordelia gave an exasperated sigh. "The outfits were _fine_. This isn't about the clothes is it? It's about you."

Faith shook her head in agreement. "You could knock their socks off, Red. Gots that whole 'sexy librarian' thing going for yas." Willow made a face in response.

"Ugh," Cordelia said, giving Faith a look that said '_stop_ helping'. She gave Willow a look up and down, taking in the drab long brown skirt and odd, multi-colored sweater. "_Fine._ How about we make a deal? If the guys don't loose their ability to talk for ten seconds when they see you, I'll buy you something that _will, _no cost to you."

Willow gave Cordelia a suspicious look.

"C'mon, Red," Faith interjected. "Cordy can be a Queen Bitch; but has she _ever_ lied to you?" Cordelia shot her a look that had 'Gee, thanks ever so' dripping from it.

Hesitantly Willow shook her head in the negative. "No, she hasn't."

"Then it's a deal," Cordelia said, smiling her predator's smile again and sticking out her hand. "Tomorrow." After juggling her books for a second, Willow reached back and shook on it. "I'll meet you at your house in the morning to help you coordinate."

Willow gave her a startled look, then grinned, nodding. "Ok, deal. Umm... aren't you afraid of catching 'nerd cooties' from my house?"

Cordelia frowned, tapping her chin thoughtfully with a manicured nail. "I'll wear some of those surgical gloves and bring some disinfectant spray." She grinned back, "Unlike _some_ people, _I'm_ willing to make sacrifices in the name of fashion." Willow laughed, her eyes twinkling.

"I think G would say that's a bad idea on the Hellmouth," Faith said. "Let's hope the battle against drab is the worst thing that happens this week."

"Oh, great. Now you've jinxed us." Cordelia stated. Willow grinned, nodding enthusiastic agreement.

"Yup. We're doomed now," Willow said, laughing. "Hey - Oz!" She pointed as Oz's zebra van pulled up at the front.

"So we - hey!" Cordelia's comment was cut off as Harmony jostled her, pushing past them on her way down the steps. "_Watch_ it, Kendall." Harmony swept past without an acknowledgment - just a head toss indicating she'd heard.

"Yeah yeah. Watch it Kendall. Watch it Kendall," drifted back to them as she flounced down the steps.

"Huh." Faith's brow creased slightly as she followed the blonde's progress down the front walk. "No Harmonettes, no insults. Harmony look a bit dazed to you guys?"

Willow frowned thoughtfully. Cordelia shrugged, "Oh, who cares. It's just Harmony."

***********************************************


	2. Chapter 1: I Must Say That Your Concerns

_**"Mortal Friends, Mortal Foes"**_

**Episode 2**

**"Pearls Before Swine"**

_by Ironbear and Richard Caine_

**Starring:**

Elisha Dushku as "Faith"

Anthony Stewart Head as "Rupert Giles"

Nicholas Brendan as "Alexander 'Xander' Harris"

Charisma Carpenter as "Cordelia Chase"

Alyson Hannigan as "Willow Rosenberg"

Seth Green as "Daniel 'Oz' Osbourne"

Sarah Michlle Gellar as "Buffy Summers"

**Co-Starring:**

Danny Strong as "Jonathan Levinson"

Armin Shimerman as "Principal R. Snyder"

Luke Perry as "Oliver Pike"

Glenn Quinn as "Allen Francis Doyle"

**Guest Starring:**

Persia White as "Aura"; Raina Simone Moore as "Tamara"; Mercedes McNab as "Harmony Kendall"; Elizabeth Anne Allen as "Amy Madison"; Blake Swendson as "Michael Czajak"; Danielle Fishell as "Stacey Morrison"; Price Jackson as "Blayne Moll"; Larry Bagby II as "Larry Blaisdell"; Fab Filippo as "Scott Hope"; Brian Gross as "Tor Hauer"; Jennifer Sky as "Heidi Barrie"; Lucinda Jenney as "Janice"

Lou Diamond Phillips as "Dacascos"; Donnie Yen as "Ice"; Ron Perlman as "Benedikt Lohse"; Karel Roden as "Rhoden"

Markus Redmond as "Boneheaded Demon"; Tony Todd as "Vyasa Demon"; Lori Petty as "Punk Girl Vampire"

and

George Takei as "Mr. Hideyoshi"

_"My education was dismal. I went to a series of schools for mentally disturbed teachers." -_ Woody Allen

**Chapter 1: ****I Must Say That Your Concerns (about my happiness) -**

_**Tuesday September 15, 1998; Biology Classroom 132, Sunnydale High School, 7:50 A.M.**_

Only Tuesday, and it had already been a long week, Xander Harris reflected. Bad enough that the school year had opened not only with him inadvertently initiating open warfare with the 'Toole Brigade, but that was followed with a sentient spell that devoured a man through the most insidious means any teenage male could imagine. But now... to top all of that, now he was stuck with Senior Biology as a first class. All thing considered, he'd rather have the youth sucking computer avatar - at least _she_ was sexy. The only solace was that this was one of the few classes he shared with Willow, Cordelia, and Oz.

Or at least he _would_ be sharing it with Willow and Cordelia if they were here yet. He hadn't seen either of the two girls when he hit campus at eight, and usually _both_ of them were already there by at least seven thirtyish: Willow to get some extra study time and chat with Giles; Cordelia to get in some early social networking. He himself wasn't exactly the earliest guy in the morning, normally, but at this point the delay was beginning to worry him. They were about to pass through 'on time' and 'fashionably late' any minute now.

Possibly they were already there and he'd find them waiting on him. _If_ he managed to make it upstairs and to the classroom before last bell... which was starting to look a bit iffy.

Coming around the hallway corner leading to the stairs up to the sciences classrooms, Xander skidded to a halt upon spotting Amy Madison walking ahead of him. He groaned silently. This wasn't going to be fun, but he figured he'd better get it done while he had a chance.

Clearing his throat, he lengthened his stride to catch up to the young witch. "Hey, Amy? Gotta minute?"

Amy jumped slightly, then turned slowly as he caught up with her. Upon seeing who'd called out to her, her expression went more than slightly frosty. "Harris? What do you want?"

"Uh... " Xander's mind went blank and he stuck his hands in his jacket pockets.

"Well? I'm going to be late for Chem if we stand around too long," she gave him an impatient look.

"Right. Biology, me. I mean, I'm on my way to biology. I'll be _late_ to biology, I mean. Not that I _want_ to be late to biology, but," Xander said. Taking a deep breath, he ran a hand through his hair before sticking it back in his pocket and looking Amy in the eyes. "And I'm really not an idiot even if I _am_ babbling like one. Uh, look, Amy... I wanted to apologize to you for that whole thing last year."

"Thing?" Amy cocked her head, her eyes glittering slightly. "You mean that 'blackmailed me, got me punched out by Buffy, and almost got me killed thing' thing? Or was there some _other_ thing?"

"Uh, yeah, that thing," Xander nodded. "Look. I'm not going to make any excuses here. Not that I could, but I'm not even if I wanted to. Which I don't."

"You're babbling again, Xander," Amy said, smiling.

"Right," Xander said. "I am. Ok, no babbling. I was wrong to do that, and I'm really sorry for doing it and for everything that happened because of it. I don't expect you to forgive me, but I _am_ sorry."

Amy nodded. "You know, before I accept that, I want you to know: I'm _really_ pissed off at you. We've been friends for how many years? Grade school and junior high? You, me, and Willow? And you couldn't even just _ask_ me to do something for you and give me a chance to say 'yes', 'no', or 'fuck off', but went straight for the blackmail?" She sighed, shaking her head, "That really kind of hurt, Xander."

"I know," Xander said miserably, deflating a bit. "I was hurting so bad I wasn't thinking straight. And that's not really an excuse. I shouldn't have done it."

"Yup." Amy rolled her eyes, sighing. "Ok, I forgive you. Apology accepted. But _don't_ do something like that to me again, ok?"

"Huh? You do?" Xander blinked. "And right: I won't. I'm not even going to get mixed up in doing magic ever again if I can help it." He gave her a lopsided grin, "Does that mean you're not mad at me any more?"

"No, I'm _still_ pissed off at you," Amy said, grinning back. "Just means I forgive you." First bell for classes rang and they both jumped.

Xander fell in next to her as Amy headed up the stairs. "I'll walk you to Chem," he said. "And then I'll get the evil eye from the new teacher as I try to slide into Biology after second bell."

**................................................**

Not quite after second bell, but just before. Close to late and not-quite-late aren't the same things, Xander reflected as he slid into his seat. "So," Xander said, turning in his seat and looking over to Oz. "How's things?"

"Good," Oz said. Xander frowned.

"You know, you're a real hard guy to have a conversation with," Xander commented with a sigh.

"Comes with being laconic," Oz said with a shrug. Still facing forward, Oz then made a series of completely unprecedented facial expressions, his jaw falling open slightly.

"What?" Xander asked with a raised eyebrow. "Did the Ghosts of Biology Past just show up to berate you for your lack of verbiage?"

"Look," Oz said, raising an arm to point towards the front.

Xander turned around in his chair and blinked. He blinked again. "My god," his own jaw dropping slightly.

Cordelia stood by the door to the classroom with Willow standing next to, and slightly behind her. Possibly Willow. Or maybe Willow's identical, elegant and beautiful looking twin. Possibly even Willow's identical _evil_ twin, except Xander kind of doubted that an evil twin could manage looking quite that terrified. Willow's - or the Willow-twin's - hair was brushed until it glowed and swept back slightly, hanging loose. An open dark green vest over a rust wrap around skirt with a complementary pale cream blouse not only complemented her coloring but also the lines of her body. A multi-hued rust, red, and brown scarf at her throat matched and accentuated the skirt and set off the green of the vest. Extremely understated cosmetics highlighted the green eyes and shape of her face. Willow's shy posture did nothing to detract from the stunning effect.

Xander had never before seen the range of actual expressions that were playing across Oz's features. Goodness knows his own jaw was a little slack. A quick glance around the Biology lab told him that he and Oz weren't the only ones.

"I told you," Cordelia said as second bell rang, gently guiding Willow towards their group's lab table and into a seat next to Oz. She leaned over conspiratorially and grinned like a shark, winking at Xander. "It was worth it for that alone, wasn't it?"

"Wow," Xander said. "Oz broke an expression. Several of them even." He grinned, "Looking _very_ good, Willster."

Willow still had her head down, but with very small, satisfied smirk on her face now. She looked up walked over to Oz and gave him a quick peck on the cheek with a smile and sat down in her seat with a satisfied squeaking sound. Cordelia had her own proprietary smile set in place as she sat down next to Xander. Xander could see Cordelia's professional touch there: after all he'd been dragged away and had it inflicted upon him. Xander grinned and shook his head.

"That's my girls," Xander remarked casually as they settled into their desks. He gave Cordelia a mock worried look, "That is our Willow, right? You didn't trade her in on Willow 2.0?"

Willow shot him a wounded look, and Cordelia thumped him on the arm solidly. "Now, be nice. Jerk."

"Sorry," Xander said, rubbing his arm and wincing. "So," Xander said, giving Willow an apologetic look. "How about we just go back to getting into fistfights with monsters? Or maybe being life sucked by computerized sex fiends? It's got be less painful than Biology."

"And miss a chance to listen to you whine like a fourteen year old girl?" Cordelia responded, arranging her books with her usual grace. She turned her thousand watt smile on him. "Not likely."

"I do _not_ whine like a fourteen year old girl, I'll have you know," Xander shot back, huffing himself up in pride. "More like an _eight_ year old girl. But still: _biology_. I have to remind you, I have _issues_."

"Oh come on Xander," Willow opined, opening a notebook that was already covered in indecipherable Willow-script. "Mr. Hideyoshi isn't bad at all. Just because our previous biology teacher tried to seduce and then eat you is no reason to hold the entire field in contempt."

"Call me paranoid," Xander said with a frown, "But one experience with nearly being decapitated by a woman is enough for me."

"And you're still dating Cordelia?" Willow asked. She almost looked startled that the zinger had come from her own lips. Cordelia shot Willow a completely scandalized look, her eyes narrowing.

Conversation at that point died down as Mr. Hideyoshi walked in from the biology storeroom with a calm confidence. He was a relatively handsome man, with just a touch of gray at his temples. Today he was dressed in what Xander had begun to realize was his usual attire of a suit coat and slacks. Obviously a fan of the sport coats, on this occasion he was wearing an expensive looking tan number with a subdued tie. Somewhere within his brain, Xander felt a horrible awareness begin to jell: Cordelia _must_ be rubbing off on him if he bothered to notice another man's fashion sense.

Hideyoshi pulled up short at his desk, depositing a book and several folders on it, and removing a sheaf of papers from one. Straightening his tie, he walked around the table as was his habit. Pulling to a stop directly in front of his desk, he turned a cool and scornful gaze on the drowsy juvenile population of room 132. He frowned to himself and adjusted his cuff-links with a stern gesture, before picking up the sheaf of papers and, moving around the room, passed out the results of the previous Friday's pop quizzes.

Back at his desk, he straightened his tie again, folding his arms over his chest. "I see that we are all at least _somewhat_ awake this morning," Hideyoshi said in an acid tone. "Very well. We will begin with last night's reading on mammalian behavioral psychology. Mr. Harris, tell me if you will, what is it that our textbook believes separates a thinking man from a beast?"

"Our ability to craft the industrial grade food product that is the Twinkie?" Xander offered. Cordelia shot him a steel melting gaze, shaking her head, and Xander relented slightly. "_Just_ kidding there. Well, less specifically, I guess the uh... capacity for reflection?"

"Hmm," Hideyoshi nodded. "This is true, and a sadly precise retelling of what our textbook said. Miss Rosenberg?"

"Isn't it the diversification of our neural functions?" Willow asked, lowering her hand tentatively. "The synaptic patterns that allow us to do things no other animal can?"

"Closer Ms. Rosenberg," Hideyoshi said. Willow tilted her head to the side inquisitively as he tweaked the cuff-link on his left arm. "More than any other thing, it is the ability to discern and organize our minds and to communicate concepts. The ability that we most commonly call 'language'. It is this facility that separates us from what some would call 'the lower animals'. Some have poetically named the song or the word as being the _beginning_ of Creation. I am not certain that this is a false or even misleading allegory as far as human development is concerned."

Willow seemed slightly miffed by the response, but the rest of the class seemed to pass without any further incident. At least, Xander wasn't called on more than usual, and he managed to get by with more-or-less textbook responses on the few times he was. However, he did notice that Willow and Aura must not have found Mr. Hideyoshi's class as boring and bland as he did. In contrast to their early drowsy attention, both of the girls seemed to become raptly absorbed as the class droned by. Not that that was out of character for Willow, but Xander had never really considered Aura to have much of an interest in science, much less a "rapt" one.

In contrast to her fixed attention on Hideyoshi's lecture, Willow also seemed to become more and more fidgety as the time passed. While normally a bit hyper, Willow usually wasn't quite as prone to chewing on her pencil between note taking, grooming her hair with her fingers, or bouncing softly in her seat while tapping her fingers on the table. At least not to the degree that Xander seemed to be noticing - she usually tended to bounce when she was excited over a research project or new discovery, not over what was - for Willow - fairly basic science material. Of course, on reflection, Xander mused that he tended to spend a lot of time in science classes dozing with his eyes open and his chin propped in his hand, so it's _possible_ he may have just not noticed before...

Aura... while Xander would rather be tortured than admit it, he'd spent quite a bit of late grade school and junior high watching the attractive black Corette. While he wouldn't classify Aura as "hot" in the same sense as Cordelia, Buffy, or Faith, he had always thought that she was extremely pretty. Plus, she'd always seemed a bit nicer and classier than the rest of Cordelia's cronies. She'd figured in more than a few of his bored classroom fantasies over the years. In all of his years of Aura watching, he couldn't remember ever seeing her _wriggle_, period, much less wriggle in her class seat. He also couldn't recall ever seeing her fix a teacher - any teacher - with an expression he'd be tempted to describe as almost "fawning" or "adoring".

Cordelia caught his eye part way through the lecture as well. While "Cordelia as girlfriend" - or even as "friend" - was still kind of a new thought to him, he _had_ known her for over a decade by now and had spent a _lot_ of boring classes together observing her. And fantasizing about... _'Ok, kill that line of thought, Xan - back to business,'_ Xander painfully wrenched his mind back up to gutter level. Cordelia's normal mode, even in classes that bored her, was to alternate between briskly taking notes, filing her nails, abstractedly reading her textbook, and primping surreptitiously for whatever males were paying attention to her at the time. Quietly sinking into her seat - almost slumping in it - fidgeting, and casting frequent covert glances at the clock as though she were counting down the minutes to escape were _not_ typical Cordelia behaviors. The slumping alone was almost an alarm signal: "bad posture" ranked somewhere in the Cordelia Chase list of venal personal sins right up there with chipped nails and split ends, and just below "knock off labels". The lack of note taking was nearly as bad: Cordelia would rather be fed to the Hellmouth Beast than admit it, but her grades would mark almost anyone else as a "school brain".

His boredom with Hideyoshi's droning voice banished by his curiosity over his girlfriend's oddities, Xander began to glance surreptitiously around the room checking out the other students. School science nerds riveted to the teacher with rapt attention, pens moving rapidly over organized notebooks: check. Nothing odd there. Various jocks either looking bored and dazed, or snoozing quietly, or joking with their buddies whenever Hideyoshi's attention was elsewhere: check. In-betweener kids doing variants both between bouts of clock watching: check. Oz...

Huh. Oz's expression was almost odd. Especially for Oz. Rather than quietly and studiously making notes while reading his book, the small guitarist was watching Hideyoshi intently with a very slight crease between his eyebrows, and an almost disquieted air about him. _'Note to self,'_ Xander thought. _'You've spent too much time around Willow. Never, ever let it become known that you managed to use the word disquieted properly in a sentence.'_

Catching Xander's eye upon him, Oz gave him a very slight shrug, then glanced at Willow and met Xander's eyes again, raising his eyebrows slightly. Xander returned the shrug and spread his hands slightly in a 'heck if I know' gesture. Oz nodded fractionally and went back to studying the biology teacher.

The only student who didn't seem to be bored to irritation or oddly antsy was the _last_ person he'd been expecting to see acting uncharacteristically.

In contrast to her usual habit of feigning interest while hiding comics behind her textbook, Heidi Barrie lounged relaxed and very still in her seat next to her lab table partner, head cocked and her eyes on the teacher. Almost unnaturally still, especially compared to the fidgety teen next to her. Like many of the other class females, Heidi watched Hideyoshi with a rapt attention, only with a subtle difference to it that Xander couldn't quite put his finger on. As if sensing his eyes on her, Heidi turned her head slowly and met his gaze across the room and Xander's neck hairs bristled sightly when the similarity struck home for him.

Heidi was wearing the same lazy, indifferent, and dispassionate gaze of a lioness studying potential prey that Buffy, Faith, or vamp-Shelia wore when watching something they hadn't _quite_ yet classed as a dangerous enemy, but weren't ruling it out...

Catching his eye, Heidi closed one of hers in a slow and deliberate wink and made a kissing moue with her lips at him, then smiled lazily and returned to studying Hideyoshi. Xander felt his ears grow slightly hot and her wrenched his eyes back to the front of the room, flushing and shifting uncomfortably in his seat. _'Ok, __that__ got way too much of a Faith-like reaction from me for my comfort zone, too,'_ Xander thought. _'Note to self: do __not__ encourage the Principal eating girl to think you're visually flirting with her. Especially not while dating Cordelia.'_

_'Ok, so maybe there's something in the well dressed older Asian male thing that I'm not seeing here,'_ Xander thought. _'Gotta admit, up until I started this growing up thing, I haven't spent that much time awake in classes, but I'd think I'd have noticed if every girl in class had __ever__ been fixated on any other male teacher, right?'_ Just to check his theory, Xander pushed a pencil off the table and cut his eyes toward the back of the room while swiveling in his chair to bend to recover it. Larry Blaisdell didn't seem to be overly fascinated with Hideyoshi: in contrast to his female Biology partner, Larry sat drowsily leaned back in his seat, his head slowly nodding forward only to jerk upright after a bit. With a mental nod to himself, Xander sat back up and idly tapped the pencil on his book._ 'Ok, check: the gay football player doesn't seem to be soaking up the Hideyoshi hotness,' _he mused. _'So it's either a girl thing I wouldn't understand, or I'm hallucinating the whole weirdness bit. Spidey-sense malfunction, must get that checked.'_

The bell ringing startled all of them, and Mr. Hideyoshi's drone cut off suddenly. Willow was up and gathering her books and notes together even before the last ring. Shoving everything into her book-pack, she headed out with scarcely more than a backward glance and an absent looking smile, Oz following her with a bemused expression. Heidi, who still had a significant percentage of Xander's split attention got smoothly to her feet and walked out just a little bit faster than her normal lazy prowl. Aura, Xander noticed, bounced almost happily up from her seat and up to the front of the room to engage Hideyoshi in animated chatter. _'Bounced?'_ Xander blinked, shaking his head slightly. _'Aura just __bounced__ up to the teacher's desk?!?'_

Cordelia gave a startled looking blink, just sitting momentarily, watching out of the corner of her eye as the rest of the class filed out. Eventually it was just the two of them sitting there. Xander looked at her expectantly, and Cordelia shook her head.

"Sorry," she said, "I was feeling a little off right there." She gathered her books and notebook, and stood, giving a slight shake of her head.

"I'll say," Xander said. "Are you ok?"

"Yeah," Cordelia stated, looking a bit distracted. Turning towards the door, Cordelia looked for a moment as though she was about to bolt out. Xander took her by the elbow, slowing her as the two of them walked out of the classroom. _'Ok, and that's weird too,'_ went through his mind. _'Cordelia Chase strides, prowls, or runs. Flees elegantly in terror screaming, maybe. But she does __not__ bolt. Bolting is for lesser mortals...'_ As they passed through the doorway, Cordelia looked down both ends of the hall with an intense focus. Xander frowned, watching her. "You seem... I dunno. Quiet today."

"Guess I just don't feel much like talking for some reason," Cordelia gave an uncomfortable looking shrug, her eyes down. She shook herself slightly and gave him a wan version of the thousand watt smile. "Get going dweeb. I'll see you at lunch." She leaned up to him and gave him an almost shy peck on the cheek and a quick nuzzle, then headed off abruptly.

"Yes ma'am," Xander said with a sharp salute. "Lunch it is."

It took him six yards down the hall to realize that she hadn't once verbally assaulted him. Not only that, but a _shy_ Cordelia kiss? That's like Faith with no sexual innuendo. _'That settles it,'_ Xander thought. _'The natural order of the Universe has left the building.'_

Was it really _too_ much to ask for a whole week's break between weirdnesses?

**................................................**

_**Tuesday September 15, 1998; Sunnydale High School Library, 11:30 A.M.**_

Peeking his head out into the main hallway leading to the library, Jonathan Levinson slowly let out a pent up breath he hadn't realized he was holding. So far, an apparently clear coast. No Jack O'Toole. No gathering of weirdos or strange Ferengi like Principals. Most especially, no immediate evidence of Faith. Over the course of the past week, he'd noticed several times that she tended to hang out in the vicinity of the library, and after Monday's events, he knew darned well she wasn't your average student. 'Not average' in the same way that the oddly absent Buffy Summers wasn't 'average'. And her casually friendly conversation with Mr. Giles suggesting that she had a similar relation to the forbidding Brit as Buffy and her friends had meant that Giles was on the 'avoid list' for him as well.

Not that he was really _avoiding_ Faith, precisely. Not in the _strictest_ sense of the word 'avoiding', anyway. He just really didn't want to bump into her until she'd had a chance to cool down a _lot_ more. So, definitely no avoiding going on here. Just 'not wanting to run into her' type non-avoidance. Any five foot five inch girl who could casually toss Jack O'Toole several yards on his rear and then just as casually knock him cold with one punch wasn't someone to push your luck with. Jonathan felt a broad grin stretch across his face as he slid out of the side corridor and up to the library doors. Never _mind_ how funny Jack had looked sprawled unconscious on the Quad walkway.

Likewise, he wasn't really _avoiding_ avoiding Xander Harris or Daniel Osbourne, either. He just had a healthy suspicion that they probably hadn't kept the information, disks, and program notes they'd gotten from him regarding Rochelle's creation to themselves. All in all, he just thought it best to keep a low profile around them and the rather intimidating British librarian they hung out with in their little supernatural crime fighting group for awhile. Like, until after Graduation, maybe.

Rising up slightly on his toes, Jonathan looked carefully through the porthole windows of the main doors, searching the interior. Ok, so far, so good. No Faith sprawled at one of the back tables reading one of the weird librarian's books. No weird librarian at the desk. No 'Scooby Gang' arrayed around one of the big tables researching, err... whatever they researched in here.

Taking a deep breath and squaring his shoulders, Jonathan nodded decisively and quietly opened the door, slipping in once it was ajar enough to admit him. Letting it close softly behind himself, he eased carefully across the main floor to the stairs leading up to the stacks, and then slid in between the rows of shelves, letting out the breath he'd been holding. Ok, if he was real lucky, he could grab the books for his economics paper and quietly drop off his return books and slip out before Mr. Giles came out of his office. He'd worry abut explaining why his latest reference books had no check out stamp when or if it came up.

Fifteen minutes of browsing later, he added one last reference to the stack under his arm, frowning at the shelves. Ok, so they were missing a couple of titles he'd hoped for. He had located most of what he wanted, and he was pretty sure he could find the other two Hayek compilations at the Sunnydale Public Library. About to head to the end of the stacks and make his way down, he froze upon hearing the library's main doors open. Footsteps clicked across the floor loudly, heading to the main desk rather than up toward the stacks, causing him to roll his eyes and mutter under his breath.

Taking a quick peek around the edge of the shelves, he saw the pretty exchange student from Cordelia's posse crossing the lower floor. The sound of the door to the library office opening and shutting cut short his appreciative view of the Caribbean girl's rear and he pulled back into the shelves hastily, his eyes widening. Aw, crap. Closing his eyes, he leaned back to wait, thumping his head against a shelf softly. Maybe she'd find whatever quickly and Mr. Giles would go back into his office.

Jonathan's luck wasn't that good, apparently. After a few moments he heard Tamara's voice say a cheery "Hello, Mr. Giles."

"Why, hello, err, ah, Tamira, is it?"

"Close enough. Tamara, actually. Tamara St. Marins," followed by a laugh.

"Ah. Quite. My apologies," Giles said. Jonathan could picture him giving her a faintly embarrassed look while polishing his glasses. "Err, what can I do for you today?"

"Could you maybe point me to where you keep copies of Conrad's 'Heart of Darkness'? I looked through the shelves earlier and couldn't find it." Ok, so there were worse things to be stuck listening to, Jonathan reflected. Not only a very pretty girl, but she had a real pretty accent. Nicer than most of the Cordettes, too. And she evidently read something other than Cosmo. Cool.

"Hrrmm." There was a pause from the librarian at that. "I'm trying to recall if that's among the new orders I've gotten in recently. It wasn't among our previous selection, I don't believe."

"Could you check, maybe? It'd save me a trip to the main library."

"Most certainly. It should only take a few minutes." Pause. "That's rather an unusual assignment for this school's curriculum, is it not?"

"Not really assigned reading so much. More like second week Homework Hell." There was a pause and a tinkling laugh, "Probably going to be a lot of us coming in looking for materials this week. I think every teacher at SHS is assigning reports and essays of some type this week so far."

"Ah. Well, I must admit it shall be unusual to see actual students within this part of the building." Pause. "Give me a few minutes, and I'll check my lists to see if we have that volume, and where it might be located."

"Sure. I'll wait."

Upon hearing the man's footsteps head toward and into the rear office, Jonathan decided this was probably his best possible chance to slip out unnoticed. Bracing himself, he casually exited the stacks and walked as quickly and quietly as he could down the stairs to the main floor. Throwing a quick glance at the office door, he sidled up to the counter and quietly set his history book next to the Returns section, only to have Menger's 'Principles of Economics' and Mises' 'Human Action' slide out of the stack under his arm and thump loudly to the floor. Jonathan froze with a decidedly 'deer in the headlights' expression as Tamara jumped, turning towards him in a startled fashion.

"Yow! Didn't even see you there," she said. She knelt gracefully to pick up one of the volumes as Jonathan went to recover the other one.

"Uh. Yeah," Jonathan gave her a wan smile. "Sorry, didn't mean to startle you."

"No prob. Here," she handed him the economics book, standing. Jonathan replaced it carefully in his stack and stood as well. "Mises, huh?" Tamara asked.

"Huh?" Jonathan blinked, wrenching his gaze upwards. Bizarrely, he heard Faith's voice going through his mind, saying, _'Try keeping the eyes above chest level sometimes'_. He shook his head slightly. Having a vivid visual and textural memory of a naked Rochelle in his mind's eye was _not_ helping any. "Uh, yeah. I mean, uh, Mises. Advanced college prep class - I'm doing an, uh, economics paper." Jonathan kicked himself mentally for sounding like a dork.

"Well, yeah. If it were a history paper, you'd be _way_ off," Tamara's observation drew a sharp glance from Jonathan, but instead of dismissive contempt, her voice and expression only held mild amusement.

Jonathan found himself chuckling uncomfortably. "Well, yeah. Unless it was like, history of economics maybe."

"Hah." Tamara shook her head, "At Sunnydale? Only if you want a blank look and an 'F' from the world history prof."

"Heh. Mr. Jorgens doesn't look much outside of the textbook, does he?" Jonathan ventured a genuine smile. A soft throat clearing drew him abruptly out of contemplation of Tamara's lips and the long, elegant line of her neck and back to reality. Ooops...

"Ms. St. Marins? We do have it. Unfortunately, it hasn't been shelved yet. If you don't mind waiting some additional minutes, I can retrieve it for you from the 'to be shelved' stacks," Mr. Giles interjected. "Why, hello, Mr. Levinson," Mr. Giles favored Jonathan with a distinctly unamused glance. It suddenly occurred to Jonathan that he'd forgotten about a perfectly good escape route through the doors behind the stacks that would have prevented this entire confrontation... Rats.

"Mr. Giles!" Jonathan said in a bright voice. "Err, just returning the books that I borrowed for my computer project. See? Everything is in mint - well as close to mint as you find here - condition. Now I'll leave these here and just be..." he trailed off at Giles' completely humorless stare and ending in a squeak: "...staying right here?"

"Good choice, Mr. Levinson," Mr. Giles said, dryly. "I would actually appreciate that. I have a few things I believe we might discuss." He turned his attention to the Cordette, his voice and expression softening in mid turn. "Give me a few moments, Ms. St. Marins, and I'll retrieve your volume for you."

"Sure," Tamara said. "I'll keep err... " she looked at Jonathan.

"Jonathan," he managed.

"Right. I'll keep Jonathan company."

"Quite. I shall be back directly, then," Giles said. With that, he went around the counter, heading toward the book carts, leaving them alone for the moment.

"So, what'd you do? Dog ear a collector's edition of Shakespeare before returning it?" Tamara asked.

"Uh... " Jonathan shook his head. _'I helped two other idiots conjure a living computer dating simulation that infested the school mainframe and killed several people via extreme sexually induced aging,'_ flitted through his brain. While it _was_ an impressive display of technical skill, he somehow doubted that ranked very high on the list of 'ways to impress girls and get dates'. Shaking his head, he shrugged slightly, "Something like that," he said.

"Ah." Tamara's lips twitched. "So... you're up for summary execution then. Been nice knowing you." Jonathan gulped, swallowing hard.

"I hope not?" Jonathan's eyes widened.

"Here you go," Giles called out as he came back around the counter. He stamped the check out slip on the back cover and extended the still new copy of 'Heart of Darkness' across to Tamara. "I do hope you enjoy this, it's an excellent read. And good luck on your essay."

"Thanks. And I've read it before," Tamara said, nodding. "It _was_ assigned reading at private school in Sint Maartens."

"Really," Mr. Giles reached up to adjust his glasses. "In that case, good luck on your course, then."

"Thanks," she grinned at him. "And don't execute Jonno. Dog earing books really isn't a capitol offense. Laters." Tucking the book under her arm, she turned to head out of the library.

"Take a seat, if you would, Mr. Levinson," Giles said calmly, gesturing to one of the nearby round tables. Suppressing an urge to gulp, Jonathan took a seat and waited patiently. Nervously, but none the less patiently, in the manner of someone awaiting sentence. After a moment spent logging the two history volumes back in, Giles walked around to the other side of the table and sat down across from him. With exacting care, the librarian removed his glasses and began to polish them with a cloth that he drew from his sweater vest while studying the much shorter teen. _'Only Mr. Giles could make a sweater vest intimidating,'_ Jonathan thought.

After a period of time that just had to be much shorter than it seemed, Mr. Giles sighed gently and replaced his glasses. "I find myself in a rather interesting position, Mr. Levinson," Giles began. "I've recently come into the guardianship of a most interesting young woman that I believe you are acquainted with?" At Jonathan's inquiring look, he stated, "Faith, the young lady who escorted you through the library yesterday."

"Oh, yeah. Uh, I mean, yessir. I err, know Faith," Jonathan said. "Guardianship? That's very noble of you, Mr. Giles," Jonathan offered with an expression that he hoped combined hopeful optimism, vague interest, and a healthily concealed dose of 'wanting to get the hell out of the room alive'.

"Excellent." Giles nodded. "As her guardian, it falls upon me to see to Faith's educational needs, and for a number of reasons, it is inadvisable for her to pursue the normal avenues of attendance at Sunnydale High. Therefore it is incumbent upon me to make other arrangements to pursue those ends."

"Right... " Jonathan nodded carefully. "I understand California has relatively liberal homeschooling policies," he offered. _'And I __really__ wish my parents had taken advantage of them,'_ he thought...

"Quite so," Mr. Giles said, nodding. He favored Jonathan with a dry smile. "That was exactly the alternative Faith and I had arrived at. As a matter of fact, that is also precisely where we arrive at your participation in this matter," he said.

"M-m-me?" Jonathan blinked. Ok, _so_ not exactly what he'd been expecting. "I mean, me, sir?

"Indeed." Mr. Giles gaze turned more than slightly cold. "It has been brought to my attention that you and several of your classmates were involved in the rather recent activities concerning the, err... shall we say, the cause of the 'electrical incident' associated with the problems plaguing the school's computer equipment last week."

Jonathan gulped nervously, not even bothering to attempt to hide it. "Uh, yes sir. Err," Jonathan stalled out while trying desperately to think of something else to add.

"Given that a rather expensive piece of school property was placed frivolously at risk, not to mention the other collateral effects," Giles continued, ignoring Jonathan's discomfort, "I felt at first as though I would be obligated to take the matter to a higher authority."

Jonathan felt his throat close up. Even though no one would believe stories that the programming construct came to life, the costs for a really damaged server, not to mention the marks that would go into his permanent record caused Jonathan to break out in a cold sweat. Add concepts such as 'computer crime', 'data penetration', and 'communications phreaking' to the list, and it suddenly escalated from a matter of vandalism to being something of more than casual interest to the FBI's computer crime specialists. Every phracker and code cracker of any practical amount of skill was aware of at least the basics of the 414s, Kevin Mitnick, Loyd Blankenship, and the rtm/Bob Morris cases, and the potential for Federal penalties for computer crimes. He suddenly revised his opinion about the advisability of running away to join a Mexican traveling circus upward several notches.

"However," Giles stated in a contemplative voice. "Hearsay is difficult to corroborate as it were, and there is rather a great deal of bother involved with dealing with the authorities in such matters. Additionally, Faith interceded upon your behalf by venturing her considered opinion that while your activities were ill advised, they were motivated more by understandable teenage foolishness than by actual malice."

Jonathan blinked, startled. "F-faith did?" Ok, now _that_ was mind boggling.

"Quite so," Giles said, nodding. Removing his glasses, he set them carefully on the tabletop to one side while rubbing the bridge of his nose. "Given that she stated that she believed that she'd amply impressed upon you the seriousness of your indiscretions and the inadvisability of repeating them... it was Faith's opinion that it was rather unlikely that you'll be tempted to dabble in such forces again?" At Mr. Giles penetrating look, Jonathan nodded so hard he thought he probably looked like one of those bobble-head dolls. "Very well, I see no real need to pursue that further. _If_ you would be willing to do a small service for me, that is."

"Whatever you want," Jonathan blurted, inching back in his chair away from Giles as much as he could without looking completely ridiculous.

With a small smile, Giles replaced his glasses again, and regarded Jonathan over the top of the lenses. "Simply put: I would request and require your assistance in the education of my ward. Most specifically; your services as a tutor for her in whatever subjects she may need advanced assistance in. I believe you generally receive top marks in mathematics, the sciences, and in computers?"

"Um," Jonathan hedged. "Yes, sir, I did... err, I do, I mean. I receive top marks in _all_ of my subjects, actually."

"Capital," Giles said, cutting Jonathan off. "Most excellent. I'm in the process of applying to the School Board for dispensation for Faith to do her studying and research here at the library whilst I am working, in addition to her home studies. I've managed to prevail upon Principal Snyder to allow her on campus in the meantime as long as she proves not to be a disruptive influence," he added. Jonathan boggled momentarily, his brain almost turning inside out at imagining just how _that_ conversation must have gone. He'd have _paid_ to be a fly on the wall for Mr. Giles conversation with the Ferengi...

Giles voice brought Jonathan back out of his reverie with a jerk. "... yesterday, today, and tomorrow Faith and I shall be engaged in testing to discern _exactly_ where her previous education left off, and what her aptitudes and needed areas of study are. As of yesterday's results, she seems to have at least a basic grasp of algebra and an undeveloped talent for mathematics, and seems to be up to at least freshmen level in American History. While we're determining where she stands in literature, reading and comprehension, the sciences, and similar fields of knowledge, I would like for you to begin your tutoring of her with advanced algebra and basics of geometry. Also, possibly assisting her in her World History explorations."

"Yes sir," Jonathan said, nodding. "I think I can do that... "

***********************************************


	3. Chapter 2: While Quite Misplaced

**Chapter 2: While Quite Misplaced Are**** Flattering (I guess) -**

_**Tuesday September 15, 1998; Sunnydale High School side parking lot, 12:00 P.M.**_

Catching sight of Scott Hope exiting his car with a small stack of books and a Burger Barn take out sack, Faith lengthened her stride a bit, grinning to herself. Coming up on him shortly after he finished locking his door, she slid her arm through his and matched her pace to his with a slight skip.

"Hey, stranger," Faith said, laughing as he started at the unexpected contact.

"Hey!" Scott looked down at her. "How goes?"

"All in all, can't complain," Faith allowed. "Much."

"Cool. At least up until the Troll twigs to the whole non-student student thing you've got going," Scott replied. "If you're going to be up here all the time, you should go ahead and bite the bullet and transition."

"Naw," Faith shook her head. "Gots that whole home school thing that that'd like ruin. Or library schooling, anyway."

"Ah. Lucky you," Scott nodded. "Us poor normals have to put up with regular incarceration here. Then again, _you_ have to put up with the British stuffy guy."

"Hey, Jeeves is ok," Faith said, snickering. "Once you get to know him, he's almost like a real person. Kinda." Glancing at his takeout, she said, "Dodging the cafeteria bullet?"

"Yup. Splitting Burger Barn with some friends in the Quad," Scott said. "Wanna join? Got plenty."

"Naw. Thanks," Faith shifted her backpack. "Got my own supplies from the deli to eat in the library." Glancing up, she asked, "Still on for Saturday night?"

"The beach party thing? Sure," Scott nodded. "Hey, that reminds me - you into like, movies?"

"Well, yeah," Faith said. Frowning slightly, she added, "Long as it's not some of that artsy foreign film crap."

"Not into art films?" Scott asked, putting on a mock scandalized expression. "How bohemian of you."

"Hah. Right," Faith said, laughing. "There's plenty of porn on cable without subtitles, if that's your kink. Don't need it in grainy film in French."

"Tsk tsk." Scott laughed, shaking his head, "No, no grainy foreign porn. State Street theater does classic comedy retrospectives regularly. They've got a Three Stooges marathon on Saturday. Thought we might go if you think you'd like that."

"Ah. A wiseguy, eh?" Grinning, Faith nodded. "Sounds like a blast. I like the Stooges."

"Cool. A lot of girls don't," Scott said. "We can figure details and make a day of it Saturday."

"Sure. And, lot of girls, huh?" Faith said, teasingly. "So, you've like known _lots_ of girls?"

"Uh... I'm going to take the fifth on that, on the grounds that you might hurt me," Scott said, laughing. "I ah - hey!" He came to an abrupt stop, almost stumbling.

Faith stopped as well, releasing his arm and looking down at the two pairs of legs sprawled out blocking the sidewalk leading up to the side door. Picking a set, she followed them up from the ankles until her gaze came to rest on the face of a smirking Jack O'Toole. The heavily _bruised_ face of a smirking Jack O'Toole. A quick glance across showed her the other pair belonged to some other goon she hadn't seen before, with a third leaning arms folded against the school by the doorway.

"Cute, guy," Faith said, nodding and looking down at Jack. "Wanna move those before I decide to take 'em off at the hips and take them with me?"

Jack pulled his feet in abruptly and uncoiled from his bench to stand in front of Faith, followed a few moments later by his buddy. Scowling, Jack snarled, "That was real fucking cute yesterday, what you did in the Quad. Bet you thought that was real funny, huh?"

"Well, yeah," Faith said, seriously. "I kinda thought it was a hoot." She grinned, "For the whole ten seconds it stayed on my mind."

"Hah hah," Jack said. "Let me tell you something, bitch. _Nobody_ makes me a laughing stock in front of the entire school here and just snickers about it."

"Well, just call me Terence Hill, then," Faith remarked.

"Huh?" Jack's scowl deepened.

"Nobody," Faith said, rolling her eyes slightly. "Ain't you got no culture?"

"Oh, your girlfriend's a real wiseass, Hope," the other goon said, giving Scott a slight shove. Faith's eyes narrowed at that, but she let it go for the moment while keeping her focus on O'Toole.

"Hey, Dickie, no need for the shoving," Scott said, adjusting his books. "Why not just ease off, and we'll go in and leave you guys to... whatever you were doing. Creative loitering?"

"_Very_ funny," Jack stated, his eyes flicking to Scott and then back to Faith. "Here's a real laugh riot: we're not done here. Your cheerleader friend and the geeks you hang out with? They're gonna be in a world of pain too."

Her eyes narrowing to slits, Faith's vision went red at the edges briefly. Stepping forward until her breasts were almost brushing Jack's leather jacket, she brought her hand up between his legs, grabbing a cupped handful of package and squeezing, _hard_. Jack straightened abruptly on to his tip-toes, his eyes bugging out as a slow, predatory smile flowed across Faith's lips. The third goon came off of the wall suddenly, then stopped, looking confused.

Faith's other hand shot out abruptly, catching Dickie's hand as it came up to shove Scott back and squeezed, vaguely aware of hearing crackling sounds. She barely registered enough awareness to stop shy of using full Slayer strength before using the grip to send Dickie stumbling back up against his bench, bringing his off hand up to cup the wounded one.

"Now, let's get something straight here, guy," Faith said in a reasonable tone. "You got a problem with _me_, best keep it there. Anything happens to _any_ of my crew, and there won't even be a grease spot left of you and your stooges here, capiche?" Her smile broadening, she put a bit more pressure into her grip, easing off a bit when Jack's face turned purple. "Nod if you catch my drift."

Jack's head moved up and down, and he managed to grate out, "Caught it."

"Coolness," Faith drawled. "Now, you gonna move your retahded ass outta my way, or do I just take these home with me for a keepsake? I'm easy either way." Jack's head moved from side to side frantically, his eyes signaling 'No!'

"No, you're not going to move?" Faith asked in a playful tone, "Or no I shouldn't snag a keepsake?" Reaching up, she smoothed the lapel of his jacket almost sensuously with her left hand, then took a handful of jacket front and picked him up by the jacket and the handful of crotch, setting him casually to one side and then shoving him back to stumble sitting onto the bench again. With a groan, Jack leaned forward slowly, both hands going to his crotch.

"Oh, you are gonna be _so_ fucked, bitch," a red faced Jack gasped out, his eyes on Faith's.

"Man, you were just _born_ stupid, weren't cha?" Faith cocked her head slightly. "Bring it. Any time, guy." Hooking her hand through Scott's arm again, she led the way past and into the building, the other goon scrambling hastily out of the way.

Inside, a slightly pale Scott looked down at her. "Uh, not to spoil the moment, but," he said, "Are you crazy? That guy is dangerous."

Stopping, Faith looked up at him curiously. "Uh, so am I. And _he_ ain't nuthin."

"Okay," Scott said, slowly. He grinned abruptly. "As long as you know. And I have to say, that was kinda hot."

"Ah." Faith grinned back up at him. "Kinda hot, huh? At least you ain't all freaking out or anything."

"Oh, color me freaked," Scott said. "But not in a bad way. Right now I'm kind of happy to get inside without a black eye, split knuckles, or a stomped lunch," he shook his head as they headed off down the hall.

"You don't stand up to those guys when they try this crap?" Faith asked, curiously.

"Well, yeah, enough so they usually pick on people who don't fight back," Scott said. "But it usually gets me punched out, too."

Stopping at the main hall leading to the front doors and the library, Faith disengaged her arm. "My stop. Books and tweed this floor, lunchroom and Quad that level."

"Right. Sure you won't change your mind?" Scott asked.

"Nah," she shook her head. Reaching out, she hooked her hand in his waistband, pulling him to her and molding her body up against his. Reaching up, she pulled his head down into a scorching kiss. Abruptly, she broke off and stepped back, grinning, "Only _kinda_ hot, huh? See you at the Bronze later tonight?"

"Sure," Scott nodded, grinning back. Turning the other direction he set off, almost stumbling into one of the football players. Laughing, Faith headed for the the library.

**................................................**

Giles looked past Jonathan's shoulder as the main door of the library opened. "Ah. Here is the young lady in question herself, now," he remarked. "Mr. Levinson, I believe you're already acquainted with Miss Lehane?"

Turning slowly in his chair, Jonathan nearly had his heart stop when he found himself looking up at Faith's whiskey colored eyes and bemused grin from way too close. "Uh, yeah," Jonathan said in a mild and slightly panicky voice. "We've met already."

"Right," Faith drawled, nodding. "Hey, Jonno." Pulling the other chair out, she turned it so she could sit straddling it with her arms folded across the back. Cocking her head slightly, she turned her attention to the older librarian - and away from Jonathan. "Hey, Giles."

"Good afternoon, Faith," Giles said. "Jonathan and I were just having a chat."

"So I see," Faith said. Shaking her head slightly, she turned her bemused look back on Jonathan.

"Excellent. Well, I believe that concludes our business for now Mr. Levinson," Giles said, straightening slightly. "If you would be so kind, make me a list of your afternoon free periods and study halls, along with the names of your study hall teachers and I'll write you a permission slip to spend those periods here in the library with us."

"Yes sir," Jonathan said, still not looking away from Faith. Being able to see her move probably wouldn't save him; but it might buy him a few extra seconds to make his peace with his maker. Not that he was _really_ worried that she might decide to finish yesterday's discussion on a bad note, but after watching her take down Jack O'Toole with one punch, you never knew.

"Meet us here tomorrow afternoon and the three of us can go over Faith's testing results and determine a study curriculum," Giles said, placing three books down on the table. "Meanwhile, if you would familiarize yourself with these, you may assist Ms. Lehane with any corrections on her work as well as helping to explain and answer any questions she may have."

Jonathan, turning ever so slowly to avoid making unnecessary motion, looked back at Giles. "Right. Familiarize. Can I go to lunch now?"

"Oh, certainly. I fear I've quite lost track of the passage of time. Let us adjourn until then," Giles said with another tight smile. He handed the books to Jonathan, who added them to his own stack and clutched them to his chest like a teddy bear as he scurried out of the library as quickly as he could manage without breaking into a complete run.

"What was all that about, Jeeves?" Faith asked once Jonathan was well away from the library. "Looks like you scared Jonno there out of a few _more_ years of his life. And he was already down a few from last week."

"I certainly did my best. He _should_ be frightened," Giles said in a dark voice. "Not only were his shenanigans responsible for several deaths, but were they to come to the attention of certain branches of the Watcher's Council he would have a bit more to deal with than a few mild harsh words from a middle aged librarian. While this is a duty that most active Watchers are not required to pursue, at least part of a Watcher's mandate is to assist in curbing the more disruptive spiritual forces in their region; including rogue magic users."

"So," Faith gave him an inquisitive look. "You're saying that if you'd reported him to the Tweed brigade, or if another Watcher'd been here," Faith said, looking towards the library entrance with a raised eyebrow. "They woulda offed him?"

"Perhaps," Giles said. "Perhaps not. All Watchers have quite a bit of autonomy in dealing with such matters. However, most would likely have at the very least notified the Council; what the Council decides to do with such individuals is generally far from benign."

"They'd have whacked him," Faith said, nodding. She gave Giles a wry smirk. "Kinda harsh."

"Quite," Giles said. The librarian sighed and leaned forward on his elbows and pinched the bridge of his nose after setting his glasses to one side on the table. To Faith, he suddenly looked very old and tired. "However, I as much as anyone understand the risks and unintended consequences of the use of magic. Like yourself, I honestly do not believe that Mr. Levinson _intended_ to create such a monstrosity. What you've told me of your conversation with him seems to confirm this belief."

"Then why are you pulling him in on this?" Faith asked with a tilt to her head. "I mean, it's not like he's gonna love teaching me advanced algebra and remedial geometry. What's the deal?"

"If you suspect that Mr. Levinson won't derive at least some enjoyment from the tutoring sessions, then I believe that you underestimate both your own charms _and_ the libido of teenage males," Giles remarked, getting a smirk and a laugh out of Faith. "While we believe Mr. Levinson to be innocent of any malice," Giles said, settling his glasses firmly back on his nose, "We cannot, however, take such things for granted, any more than we could leave those preparatory school children without follow up warnings over their demon summoning activities." Faith nodded. Giles continued in a soft voice, "Mr. Levinson warrants additional attention; this allows us to keep an eye on his behavior - perhaps dissuading him from acting in such a fashion in the future. I have found that both fear and incentives can be effective motivators if applied appropriately."

"Heh. Glad to be of service Jeeves," Faith said dryly, cracking her knuckles, and then her neck.

"And he saves _me_ the very real trouble of teaching you geometry," Giles said with a smirk of his own. "Though I _am_ sure you were looking forward to it with bated breath."

"You know me," Faith said with a lazy shrug. "I'm all about the training thing. Always just a_ quiver_ with anticipation." She wriggled in her seat like an eager puppy, batting her eyelashes at him.

"Quite. So I've noticed," Giles said with a quiet laugh.

"Y'know," Faith said, thoughtfully, "Jonathan knows enough about the supernatural crap to figure out all of what he did. And where to find people to help him out on it." She cocked her head and gave Giles a level look, "Might help keep him in line if he was to be helping us out with other stuff."

"Hrrm. Possibly," Giles said. "Let's take this one step at a time, shall we? Glancing back towards the office, he gave her a curious look. "Now, if you're ready, we can finish your preliminary exams so that I may tally them and we can finish determining where we need to begin devising our strategy here." He gave her an abstracted look for a moment, then said, "I see no real reason we cannot make our way through the rest of those today, as my library duties allow."

Faith smirked as she stood to take off her backpack and turn her chair around. "Aw, just when I thought you were beginning to like me you put me back in the book cage. Sure - let me eat my lunch while we kick around some training ideas, and we'll get on it."

**................................................**

_**Tuesday September 15, 1998; Sunnydale High School cafeteria, **__**near-Noonish**__**.**_

"Ah the staple of the American diet that is the High School lunch," Xander said, sliding into his chair at their usual table. "I'm using 'diet' and 'lunch' in the loosest possible manner here," he added as he pulled his tray in front of himself, looking down at it dubiously.

"Succinctly put," Oz observed. He and Willow had beaten Xander to the cafeteria, and were currently the only other occupants out of their normal crowd. Oz's usual soft monotone masked a very real note of confusion to anyone who knew him well. In this case it manifested as a slightly raised left eyebrow.

The reason for this became obvious when Xander noticed Willow leaning heavily into Oz's shoulder. She shot Xander an unreadable look and returned to nuzzling Oz. Xander was fairly sure he'd never seen Oz look so completely taken aback before. For his own part, Xander was unsure whether to be proud of Willow's new found PDA-style boldness or extremely concerned. She wasn't exactly taking his clothes off in public at the moment, but something about the way she had closed her eyes during the nuzzling process made Xander wonder if that wasn't exactly far off in whatever convoluted Willow-like thought processes were going on.

"Hi Xan," Willow chirped, straightening away from Oz and going back to her lunch tray. Xander blinked, wondering if he'd imagined the previous overt nuzzle session. Willow was back to full Willow-mode again, no signs of any oddness.

"Hey there, Willster," Xander said, pasting a lopsided grin on his face, just to have something to do with it. "Gotta say, I'm really liking the makeover."

"Really?" Willow brightened, tossing him a small grin. "Cordelia and Faith said it would work, but I wasn't real sure but hey - I didn't see any harm in giving it a try anyway... "

"Yup. The Evil Twins were rightamundo," Xander said, not even needing to pause to translate the stream of consciousness sentence. "It's Willow to the nth degree, whatever an 'nth' is."

"Cubed, but only moreso," Oz said in a wry voice. "Willow max," he added, giving his girlfriend a fond but slightly puzzled look.

"Right," Xander jabbed his fork at Oz. "And what the world needs is maximum Willow."

"Won't argue," Oz stated.

Willow laughed. "Awww." She blushed, and added, "I'm going to put you both down for double visits from the Dreidel fairy on Hanukkah just for that."

"Everyone should be double dreideled at least once. Twice if they like it. What's a dreidel?" A familiar voice called Xander's attention away. He looked over to see Tamara take her seat, Aura and Cordelia along with her. However Cordelia said nothing, just taking her seat next to Xander without comment and settling in with her tray. Tamara and Xander shared a look. Xander frowned again and turned to Cordelia, resting a hand on her back.

"Hey guys. You still feeling under the sunny California weather, Cordy?" Xander gave her a concerned look. He glanced up, shooting a quick grin at Michael and Stacey as they settled in across from Willow's end of the table with a pair of 'hello''s.

"Yeah," Cordelia said. "Better than earlier, though." She smiled brightly, then frowned, shaking her head. "No idea what the deal was. Just felt real weird for a bit there." Breaking off, she turned to examining his jacket with a meticulous gaze. Reaching out she adjusted his coat, brushing what may have been imaginary lint off the leather. With a firm nod, she turned back to her food without another word. Xander, for the first time in a very long time, found himself without a quip.

"Dreidel's a Jewish four-sided top thing," Xander explained in an absent tone, finally, "You play with it on Hanukkah."

"Ah," Tamara nodded. "Gotta say, I like the new look thing you guys have. It works."

"Thanks!" Willow bounced in her chair slightly.

"So, what do you think of this dress huh guys?" Aura asked. Her eyes seemed unnaturally large, darting almost eagerly between all the various people sitting around the lunch table.

"Not bad," Xander allowed. Just out of courtesy, he stifled his initial smart assed remark and gave it a look. Yup. The normal stylish Aura combination she'd been wearing earlier in class. Sharp, and flattering, but nothing out of the ordinary compared to what she usually wore. "Looks good on you."

"Really?" Aura muttered. "Well I was so worried about it this morning, I thought maybe it was going to be off or something. But I _love_ that you guys love it!"

"That's really good," Xander said slowly, using the calming tone that one generally uses with lunatics and small children. More and more he was having the same 'Spidey-sense On' feeling he'd had earlier in the day.

"I _know_ it is," Aura said, reaching around to scratch behind her ear a little with her manicured nails. "Hmm. That feels better."

"You better watch that skin girl," Tamara warned. She was intent on her food, but her slightly tense posture indicated she seemed to be feeling the same 'Twilight Zone' vibe that Xander and Oz were. "Don't want to scratch too much. Might cause a breakout."

"Really?" Aura looked suddenly quite concerned. "But it feels so good! My ears have been itching all day. It's been driving me nuts."

"Well something seems to be catching right now," Xander observed, watching with morbid fascination as Willow broke off from eating to inspect Oz's shirt for dandruff, wiping it off whenever she appeared to find something and alternately running her fingers through his hair and picking at it. Oz dealt with it with his usual stoic grace, but there seemed to be a touch more white visible around his eyes than usual. Xander turned his attention back to his tray and narrowed his eyes at it. "Maybe it's in the food."

"Hrrm. Speaking of," Tamara cocked her head, looking at Willow's tray. "When did you go vegetarian on us, Will?" Following her gaze, Xander noticed that Willow's tray held fruit, rolls, and salad only, rather than her usual assortment.

"Oh, you know," Willow said, "Sometimes you just feel like a nut." She giggled, "And sometimes like a leaf or two."

"Rosenberg!"

Xander winced as the voice of The Troll cut across their end of the cafeteria. The group of them looked up to see Snyder moving towards them with the determined 'I'm going to make what's left of your miserable life even more so' stride that Xander had seen depressingly often in the past year or so.

"What do you want?" Willow asked, turning lazily away from inspecting Oz's clothing to look at the oncoming Snyder.

"This isn't a bordello, Rosenberg," Snyder snapped as he came even with the table. He glowered at all the occupants. "Stop giving Osborne an erotic massage on school grounds or I promise I'll make you wish your unfortunate mother had never brought you into this world."

"Oh go to heck you funny looking troll," Willow snapped back, suddenly bristling. Literally: her hair was beginning to stand up on her head. "I see a dozen people a day doing worse than this. And _you're_ going to go after the one girl that may get this worthless pile of concrete and evil you call a school _any_ kind of academic recognition at all?" She stood up from her chair, bent over slightly with her fingers curled loosely into half fists, almost bouncing on her toes in agitation. "Tell you what, buster: you go bring this to the board and see what they say. Go ahead Snyder. _Make_ my year."

Snyder's head snapped back as if he'd been physically struck. However, after a long moment of looking into Willows burning green eyes, he raised his hands in a placating gesture. "Very well then, um, consider yourself reprimanded Rosenberg."

He turned precisely on his heel and walked away from their table to the snickers of other students. Oz looked at Willow in shock. Willow glanced down and snatched a roll off of her plate, bringing her arm back and sending it flying toward Snyder.

Stacey put her hand up and caught the roll as it slapped into her palm. "Whoa. Ease up." She blinked, looking at the roll in amazement before turning back to Willow. "Not even cafeteria rolls deserve to have to touch Snyder."

"Oh, right." Willow nodded, looking down at her tray. Oz's eyes widened slightly and he casually moved the tray out of easy reach as Willow's eyes lit up while looking at her fruit salad.

"Good catch," he said, raising an eyebrow in Stacey and Michael's direction.

Stacey grinned. "Wasn't it? I can't _believe_ I did that!" She tossed the roll back and Oz snagged it out of the air, casually taking a bite from it before setting it on his plate.

"What was that?" Oz asked slowly, looking at Willow.

"What what?" Willow muttered, turning back to nuzzling Oz's denim jacket.

"The 'I am Willow hear me roar' that," Oz explained. Willow fiddled with his shirt a little more before frowning and looking up to meet his eyes. They seemed a little duller somehow, as if she were tired or slightly sick. At the same time the manic gleam that she'd had all day was still clearly visible.

"He deserved it," Willow said finally. "That little troll just wants to make our lives suck."

"We're not debating that Wills," Xander replied in a comforting tone. "We're just asking. You've been a leetle _off_ today. Maybe you have the same thing Cordy does? You guys should probably go home and get some rest."

"I'm fine," Willow stated with a firm voice. She got up, dragging Oz with her. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have some business to attend to."

Tamara, Xander, and Cordelia watched as Willow proceeded to drag the hapless Oz out of the cafeteria by the lapel of his torn denim jacket. After another minute of mutual silence, Xander turned to the other three girls and blinked.

"Was that as weird to you as it was to me?" Xander asked. He looked around and all four of the other girls at the table were watching and nodding very slowly, with Michael adding a thoughtful look to the discussion.

"I've only know Willow since last year," Tamara said. "But that seemed a little... more forward than usual?"

"Oooh ooh!" Aura interjected, bouncing in her seat excitedly. "Maybe they've really just figured out what they wanted. I know that if I had a boy I wanted as much as she wants him that _I'd_ be all over it."

"Um," Tamara said. "Who are you and what have you done with Aura? And in _this_ school? Don't you dare think I'm joking."

"I'm still me," Aura said, looking like a kicked puppy. "I dunno, I guess I just feel perky today."

"Well perky is better than the Queen of Gloom over there," Tamara said. She raised her eyebrow at Xander's frantic 'strike out' motions. However, even Xander seemed surprised when Cordelia just shrugged and bent forward so that her hair covered her face.

What remained of the increasing strangeness of lunch passed by with an agonizing slowness. When lunch hour ended, Xander had never been so glad to get out of the cafeteria before.

**................................................**

Xander shut his locker and leaned forward to press his forehead against the cool metal, wondering if he was being paranoid or if he should take this situation to Giles. This was _too_ much weird in too short a time for it to be anything other than Hellmouth weirdness. And that truly sucked because tonight was the first night that he'd have had Cordy to himself since they got back from Lake Cachuma. Now that Cordelia had mysteriously transformed into Ms. Shy, he doubted that anything was going to go as planned.

So much for his not-quite-sex life. And for the very enjoyable not-quite-sex...

"Harris."

The familiar voice brought him straightening up abruptly, glancing over his shoulder as his hands flexed slightly. Tor and Heidi on his six. Interesting; in that whole 'oncoming train wreck' kind of way. He reined in his thoughts a little. They had helped with Jack O'Toole; something they hadn't _had_ to do.

"Tor," he replied. He nodded at the female half, "Heidi."

The two of them pulled up to where he was standing and proceeded to lean against the lockers on either side of his with complete nonchalance. Only someone with a shared experience - someone who had reason know them in ways most people wouldn't could tell that they were really tense. Something in the set of the shoulders, just slightly too tight, and in the eyes which tracked around the hallway just a little too lazily calculating of a manner.

And there was something inside of him that hated that knowing. Hated that sense of... _connection_.

"Got some news for yas," Tor said, frowning slightly. "Your woman had a run in with everybody's favorite psychopath the other day."

"Yeah," Heidi added. "She gave it to him something fierce when he tried to screw with her. She didn't know he'd gone from lamer asshole to full blown psychotic though. We kinda stepped in there."

Xander's eyes narrowed slightly, his mind racing. If Cordelia was shook up from a run in with Jack, that might... naw. Not even nearly getting gutted and chewed on by a Nightgaunt had shaken Cordelia enough to make her _demure_ afterwards. If O'Toole had done something to spook her that badly, the Cordelia that _Xander_ knew would come back with one of Daddy's shotguns to make sure he couldn't repeat it, _not_ withdraw into herself.

"What actually happened?" Xander asked, his attention completely riveted. Heidi gave a barking laugh.

"Nothing too much, just Jack talking a lot of idle shit," Tor said. "More what could have happened if we hadn't wandered up around then." Tor's frown began to deepen a bit. "But ol' Jackie-boy's been getting more and more 'creative' when people screw with him or stand up to him like the cheerleader did. On top of that, the bastard's pathetic memory seems to be getting better. Gots the makings of bad news, Xan."

"Tell me something I don't know," Xander shot back. Heidi gave him a smile with far too many visible teeth to be called entirely friendly.

"Well... your _other_ girlfriend decked him in the Quad yesterday and someone scrawled 'I wuz beat up by a gurl' on his t-shirt in lipstick while Jackie-o was counting tweety birds," Heidi said through her jackal's grin. "How's that for you?"

Xander stared at her, giving out an involuntary bark of laughter at the sudden mental image. "Is this for real?" Xander asked. Heidi and Tor shared a look and turned back to him to nod in unison.

"Thought you ought to know," Tor said. "Haven't really had a chance to catch you on the QT lately, though. They both should be careful: never know when a viper like him'll go off. Or how."

"If that two bit thug thinks he's gonna be able to hurt Cordelia, or Faith," Xander said. A remote part of his mind was almost surprised with the cold anger in his voice. "He'd better rethink his approach to his future, 'cause he won't have one."

Tor's frown shifted into a smile just as dangerous as Heidi's. "Well, what can I say? That's why you're the Man, Xan. Now that our public service is done for the next month, we're off to haze the freshmen. Sorta like shooting baby seals in a barrel. Tons of fun for everyone but them."

"Thanks," Xander said, carefully re-examining the former tormentors. "For this and for earlier."

Heidi looked into his eyes for an extremely intense moment, and then tilted her head to the side and gave him a flat, indolent stare. "You're welcome."

Cocking his head, Xander returned the stare with a lazy half grin. Scratching his head, he said, "I'm having an issue here, though. I kinda thought you two used to run with Jack."

Tor stiffened almost imperceptibly, as did Heidi. "Somehow, that quit seeming quite right after a certain shared experience we all had." He returned Xander's smile with one that was equally as devoid of humor. "You might remember it."

"Naw, Xan," Heidi shook her head. "We're not friends with O'Toole, and he's not one of ours." The two of them began to push off the wall when Xander was suddenly struck with a thought.

"Hey," he said, holding up a hand quickly. He was startled when they froze on a dime. He'd half expected them to just walk off on him after that.

"What?" Tor asked after Xander let the silence linger for a little too long. Xander turned to Heidi and gave her an intense look.

"You been noticing anything weird today?" Xander asked. "People just... acting _wrong_?"

"People _always_ act wrong around here," Tor said in a mildly exasperated voice. "This is freaking Sunnydale."

"No," Xander shook his head. "This is... noticeable. Seriously noticeable." Just then the bell rang for next period and Xander scowled, closing his eyes and letting his head bang back into his locker. "_Crap._"

"There's..." Heidi began. She trailed off.

"Get to class, Xan," Tor said. "We'll be at Corner's Malt Shop later tonight if you want to show up."

"Corner's?" Xander's eyes opened and he started laughing. "Isn't that a little Happy Days for you two?"

"Hey, they got good burgers and they stay open late," Tor said, laughing. "What can I say?"

"All right," Xander waved them off, still laughing. "I'll look you up."

By the time he straightened up from his locker, both of them were gone and he hadn't even seen them go. Xander sighed heavily and headed towards his next period class. He wasn't completely sure what he was going to do with Tor and Heidi's little turd of wisdom, but one thing was for sure: he _wasn't_ going to wander casually around the school between periods looking for Jack O'Toole.

He wasn't. Really.

***********************************************


	4. Chapter 3: But Counting Flowers

**Chapter 3: But Counting Flowers on the Wall (doesn't bother me at all ) -**

_**Tuesday September 15, 1998; E. Chestnut St., Sunnydale, late afternoon/early evening.**_

Distracted was _not_ a good thing when messing around with power tools, Xander reminded himself. Down that road lay blood, missing thumbs, and all sorts of badness not even remotely connected to Hellmouthy stuff. It struck him as slightly weird in a way that he found the idea of non-Hellmouth badness kind of relaxing sometimes. Power tools, projects needing attention to detail so that carelessness wouldn't lead to mishaps, and possibilities of non-demon type injuries...

The types of problems that normal people dealt with all the time. There just _had_ to be some sort of commentary there about how _un_-normal his life was that that was relaxing for him.

Downstairs he heard a slivery peal of laughter from Willow and grinned, carefully laying a one-and-one-quarter inch piece of plywood across the sawhorses. He couldn't hear Oz's voice in counterpoint to the occasional excited Willow comment, but that wasn't unusual. After a few moments, the sound of a drill cut off other noises drifting up from the first floor and he grinned to himself.

Things were really starting to come together here at the Shop, at least. He'd had to swear sacred oaths against his comic book collection in order to borrow the industrial drill-driver from S&C, but it was worth it for Oz to finally be able to start turning the accumulated pile of steel bars and scrap metal into a werewolf proof cage in the storage room. Odds and ends of furnishings, shelving, and appliances looted from the odd vamp lair and the salvage yard were slowly turning the small living area upstairs into a pretty nice little apartment. And, once he finished cutting and bolting the backstop into place over the second floor windows, they'd be able to finally move the arrow targets up here and out of the way of the throwing boards at the back of the dojo floor.

Carefully checking his measurements against the window frame one last time, he ran the circular saw across the plywood. Setting it down, he added the new cut piece to the stack next to the upper windows, eying it with satisfaction as it lined up perfectly with the others in the stack. Two more, and it'd be time to borrow the drill-driver from Oz, pull Faith out of sword practice to hold boards, and start setting these into place. Not bad for a couple of afternoon's work. Xander pulled another eight by four sheet from the "Do" stack and set it into place for cutting, his mind drifting in spite of himself to the earlier parts of the day.

Whatever bizarreness had come over the school's female population seemed to have been a temporary thing. Following lunch, all three girls had seemed to be more or less back to normal during the afternoon class he had with them. The few times he'd grabbed a chance to compare notes with Oz and Tamara had indicated the same according to them. Willow had been a little more agitated than usual, but no more than she normally got from a slight caffeine overdose. While slightly more quiet than normal, Cordelia had been back to snarking with him and gossiping with Aura and Tamara during fifth period Lit. Aura seemed to have lost whatever bouncy eagerness spirit had gotten into her earlier and reverted back to her regular reserved and sarcastic self by study hall.

No post lunch encounters with O'Toole or his tools. Xander wasn't sure if he considered that a good or bad thing. He was still surprised and a bit shook by the intensity of the rage that had swept through him on hearing that Jack and his buds had been leaning on Cordelia.

Finishing the last cut, Xander slid the cut piece onto the stack and unplugged the circular saw, carefully setting it out of the way. Stretching and working his shoulders to ease the kinks out of them, he gave the pile a satisfied look. After the increasingly surreality of his earlier day, a return to more-or-less normal followed by working with his hands was a soothing thing. He decided to keep a careful eye on Cordy and Willow the rest of the evening and snag Oz in the morning to talk over things with Giles. For 'just in case' purposes, keeping to the 'you never know' principle of going to school over a Hellmouth. But, if nothing else out of the ordinary showed in the girls, he figured he'd go ahead and write it off as 'normal weird' and go back to worrying about more mundane issues, like Jack.

_'Definitely need to find or make a chance to get Faith off to one side and ask her about her O'Toole encounter,'_ Xander decided. _'And Cordelia, once I'm pretty sure she's back to okayness.'_ He put on a breath mask and picked up a can of black spray paint, deciding to paint over the masked off windows before drilling holes in the frames to set heavy duty screws through the wood into. Cordy would be showing up soon, and it'd be time to break off for training - he could show up straight from school tomorrow with Faith and set the plywood. Kill two birds with one rock: finish the archery range and discuss their growing Jack issues with her.

During a break between the sounds of drill-driver on concrete, he heard Cordelia's laughing voice drift up the stairs, punctuated by either comments or laughter from Faith. Time to call it quits on this for the day and head down.

Stepping back to run a critical eye over the coat of paint covering the windows, he gave a satisfied grunt and set the paint can down, stripping off the breath mask. Good. No gaps or thin spots that he could see. Snagging his sweat shirt off of the back of a chair, he pulled it on as he ambled down the staircase.

**................................................**

_**Tuesday September 15, 1998; Los Angeles, late afternoon/early evening.**_

Buffy Summers blinked dazedly as the counter girl asked yet again if there'd be anything else with her order. Snapping herself back to what passed for 'the real world' lately, she dug into her pocket for some bills while shaking her head.

"Nope, that's it," she said, handing over a ten she couldn't really spare but needed to anyway. "Sorry, been kinda one of those days today," she said, managing a smile.

"Yeah, like that for everyone, I think," the girl agreed. She handed back the change and Buffy tucked it away, picking up her tray with her mochaccino and cheesy danish and clearing away from the counter for the next customer.

Sighing, she found a clear spot to stand while scanning the small bistro for a place to sit. Spying a clear table, she headed that way while trying to stifle a yawn.

The past two weeks had been a draining mixture of exhaustion and deadly dullness for her. Work at the diner had picked up considerably, which was _good_ in the tips sense, but badness in the 'able to slow down and catch her breath sense'. At least there wasn't any vampire activity, or none that she'd stumbled across. Not nearly as many weird dreams involving Angel, strange slayer stuffage and mud faced girls, either. That Doyle demon had tried twice more to talk to her about his visions and her 'destiny', despite her earlier warning, only to become conspicuously absent after she'd punctuated her final 'No' with Mr. Pointy jabbed into the soft place under his chin and a few vivid descriptions of how she'd punctuate the next one.

All the while dangling him from one hand like a dishrag. She figured he'd gotten the hint.

On the upside, while Gunn had continued to drop into Helen's on occasion for coffee and a meal, sometimes with his sister, he hadn't pushed for her to join in on any more nest raiding outside of a few hints, quickly dropped. On the downside, two weeks hadn't brought any Pike visits, and Gunn hadn't mentioned him. Buffy steadfastly refused to ask. She figured Pike had gotten his head sorted and sorted Buffy and her vampire issues clean out of it.

As much as she hated to admit it, in her better moments she figured she probably couldn't really blame him. Like he said: these stories are just never well with the ending of.

Too bad. She'd really kind of started enjoying things for the first time since she'd moved back to LA, there for awhile. Ok, better Buffy moment over. The bastard. Serves him right for having issues with her issues. _Men_. There's a million Pikes in the sea, and a guy named after a fish had no right being picky. Not that she wasn't a catch. Damn straight. And damn the mixy metaphors.

Grinning slightly to herself, she finished off her danish and left the table to deposit her trash and tray, heading up to the now empty counter for a second mochaccino. Not like she had time for much fishing lately, but a modern, independent, enlightened woman didn't really _need_ a guy to complete her, so there. Not even a guy with nice shoulders and head ducking and crinkly places around the eyes and - _'Stop that, Buffy,'_ she told herself.

Outside on the sidewalk, she paused a moment to sip on her coffee before heading out. If she was lucky, there'd be something interesting on TV to kill a couple of hours at before bed. Or at least something mind numbing.

"Hey there," the familiar voice brought her around before she'd quite headed off, turning back to the sound of it. Buffy fumbled with her coffee for a second, blinking.

"Hey yourself," Buffy called back, grinning.

Pike slowed as he got nearer, ambling up the last few yards with his hands in his pockets. Reminding herself firmly that she wasn't happy with him, Buffy put a sterner expression on than the impulsive, sappy grin and gave him a cool look.

Running his hand through his hair, Pike pointed back in the general direction he came from, saying, "I went by the diner, but they said you'd taken off already."

"Well, think of the Devil and look who pops up," Buffy remarked.

"Hey! I don't think I gave any reasons for Old Scratch comparisons," Pike objected. "Ok, maybe a _little_ but- " he paused and a slow grin spread across his lips. "You were thinking about me?"

Oh crap. She forgot about the single trackedness of the male ego. Nodding, she said, "Yup. In a totally non-flattery sort of thinking way."

"Oh, totally," Pike said, still grinning. "What was I wearing? I mean, err, what were you thinking?"

"Oooh," Buffy shook her head, turning in the direction she'd been headed.

Pike fell into step next to her, hands in his pockets. "So, about this thinking thing."

"I've decided I'm not talking to you," Buffy stated. She didn't lengthen her stride though, to leave him in the dust. Because her feet hurt, that was it.

"Good choice," Pike allowed. "You never did really come out ahead on that talking thing."

"Ha! Says you," Buffy made a snorting sound. She cut her eyes to the side, flushing when she saw him visibly tamp a grin away, replacing it with a studiously bland look. "As I remember, Kimberly, Nicole, and I always came out ahead on our little drive by snipings at Hemery."

"Whatever helps you sleep," Pike said in an agreeable tone. Cutting his eyes toward her he added, "I'm suspecting you're mad at me."

"Moi?" Buffy shook her head. "So, did you get your head all sorty?"

"Sorted, mostly." Pike said, nodding. "Then I got swamped with overtime and had time for filing and dusting."

"So, what are you planning to do with all that clean, empty space now?"

"Ouch. That was harsh," he said. "Funny, but harsh."

Buffy grinned in spite of herself, chalking up two points on her mental scorecard. "So... how's Elena?"

"Doing good. Visiting her grand mama for a day or so," Pike replied. He cut his eyes over to her, "She keeps asking about you."

"Aww. That's sweet. I kind of missed her too," Buffy said. "In spite of that big growth she walks around with."

Pike threw up his hands, laughing. "All right, peace. I get the picture. I'm a lunk."

Grinning, Buffy added, "Well, if it helps any, I kinda missed the big growth, too."

"Yeah, well," Pike stuck his hands back in his pockets. "If it helps, I really did get hit with lots of overtime at work."

"You didn't call, you didn't write... "

"You don't have a phone," he pointed out.

"Details." Stopping, Buffy turned facing him. "I had time to do some sorting too."

"Ah." Pike stopped too, looking relaxed and a bit thoughtful. "Well, you'd probably hit me if I ask what you're gonna do with the cleared space, so- " he mock ducked away as Buffy raised her fist and shook it at him, "- what sorted out for you?"

"Well," Buffy lowered her fist. "I kinda figured after that that was kind of a out-of-the-blue way to drop something like that on someone. And it wrecked a real nice day."

"It was a shock," Pike allowed. "Have to say, I didn't react as well as I could have."

Buffy shook her head, "I'm not sure there is a good way to react to that." She sighed, "I forget that not everyone's as used to the Buffy-Angel angsty fest as my friends in Sunnydale were, and they didn't react so goodish either. Especially not when... " she trailed off.

"The romance wore off and the crazed vampire psycho part came in?"

Wincing, Buffy said, "Well, yeah. That."

"I can see how that'd take some adjustment," he said, seriously. Buffy nodded. Glancing away, Pike said, "Hence the moving to LA thing."

"Hence," Buffy agreed. She thought for a moment, then shook her head, "No, that was more for me. I really needed to get away and figure some things out and try to deal with everything. In a place that was, like, not thereish."

"Yeah. That's why I left San Diego," Pike said, nodding.

"Yeah... " Buffy trailed off. "So, what now?"

"Well, that's kind of what I came to look you up to ask," Pike said. "Now that we've sorted, want to back up and do a restart, with, like, everything out on the table this time?"

"Hmm. Think we can?" Buffy looked up at him

"We can see," Pike said. He held his arm out, "How about we go get some coffee or something and talk - really talk - for awhile?"

"Sounds like a start," Buffy put her arm through his and matched strides with him. "Only - no coffee. I've about hit my mochachino limit if I'm going to get any sleep tonight. Maybe a shake instead?"

"Works."

**................................................**

_**Tuesday September 15, 1998; E. Chestnut St., Sunnydale, evening.**_

"Ok, your turn," Faith said. "You and Harris - Xan, you're the vamp." Xander nodded, quirking a half grin at his girlfriend as he carefully tossed her the long and short bokken. Faith crossed her arms, cocking her head as she leaned back to watch the two of them.

Catching the pair of wooden swords, katana length in her left hand, wakasashi length in the right, Cordelia moved back to the edge of the mat as Xander did the same barehanded. Faith studied both of them with a critical eye as Cordelia dropped into one of the modified stances she'd been shown, looking for flaws to correct. Xander did the same on the other side of the mat, looking deceptively awkward as he sized his opponent up.

_'Should be interesting,'_ Faith thought. Cordelia was faster and the quicker study, but Harris displayed an interesting mix of combat technique once - and when - he managed to stop thinking about it and let his instincts do the fighting for him. _'Leftovers from that Halloween thing?' _Faith wondered. _'Problem is, Xan can't seem to stop thinking often enough and he freezes up when he __thinks__ about moves.'_

Shooting the cheerleader a truly evil looking grin, Xander shifted his weight left, drawing Cordelia's eyes and the points of her sticks that way as he lunged in at an oblique angle from the opposite of his weight shift. Cordelia missed her block-and-deflect, barely evading Xander's grab-and-hold attempt as she sidestepped automatically, turning with him as he went past. Xander swept in with an overhand blow that was mostly a feint for the _almost_ completely _un_-telegraphed snap kick he started.

Instead of dodging or downward blocking the kick, Cordelia skip-stepped into it with a downward stomp kick of her own to Xander's kicking leg, her sole coming down solidly on the lower part of his thigh-guard. She swept the overhand blow to the side with one stick as she leaned under it and drove her other stick in under his arm and into his ribs with a thump.

"Hold!" Faith called out, cupping her open right hand over her closed left fist repeatedly in the 'stop - break!' signal they'd adopted. Both fighters separated immediately, moving apart on the mats with Xander grimacing and rubbing his lower ribs. "Nice," Faith remarked.

"Well, I _missed _the first shot," Cordelia said, grudgingly. Xander smirked, and Cordy stuck her tongue out at him.

"Yup. And an older vamp woulda had you, maybe." Faith allowed. "Xan's killed newbies, though, so the circle and stay with could have worked on a younger vamp." Frowning, she asked, "Where'd you pick up that intercept kick from?"

Cordelia frowned. "Uh... wasn't I supposed to? I just saw the shot and went there... "

"No, no - it was just right," Faith reassured her. "It's just I hadn't moved to blocking an attack with an attack yet."

"Well, it just seemed to make sense," Cordelia said. Xander nodded agreement.

"Yup." Faith nodded. "Does. When it's for _keeps_, bring your full body weight down on the stamp kick and step up on the guy's knee as you come in under the attacking arm, and use your full weight to drive home the stick. You'll step off through the dust cloud. Just _don't _miss the blocking kick... "

"So I _did _do right, then," Cordelia said, grinning.

Xander reached over and gave her a reassuring shake of the nearer shoulder. "Yup. She's saying you done good." She faked poking him with her offhand stick again and he skipped back, quirking a half grin, "Dusted vamp - _always _of the good."

"Ok, coolness," Faith said, clapping her hands together for attention. She stifled a grin when the other four cut off their byplay and snapped their awareness back to her. "We're kind of a ways from like, black belts and shit, but you guys're coming along. Red, you could use a bit more aggressiveness, and Xan, you need to shut your mind down a bit and react more, but all in all, not bad."

"And I say, huh?" Xander blinked. "Shutting down the mind? Most people yell at me to start it up every once in awhile." Willow snickered, shaking her head, and Xander cut his eyes toward her, grinning.

"Yeah yeah. Smart ass," Faith laughed, rolling her eyes slightly. "Keep it revving in like, normal life. In combat, though, I keep noticing you do good when you're not _thinking_ about what you're doing. When you just act and go with the flow, you're better than Cordy. When you think about moves, you freeze up."

"Hey! He is so _not_," Cordelia objected, sticking her tongue out at Xander.

"Am too," Xander said. "Ok, so, wise sensei," he skipped to one side away from Cordelia's poke at his ribs, "How exactly do you go about shutting your mind down when a vamp is barreling at you? I mean - aside from the whole 'blanking out in terror' thing."

"Huh." Faith thought about it for a minute. She blew her breath out finally, crossing her arms under her chest. "When I catch a clue, I'll fill you in." Hiding another grin at Xander's eye roll, she added, "Maybe we can ask G if he knows some techniques. Make him earn his paycheck here."

Xander nodded, and Willow interrupted her frowning session to interject, "I'm not real comfortable with the whole 'aggressive' thing."

"Yeah, well," Faith stuck her hands in her back pockets, scuffing at the mat with a toe. "Don't know what to tell you, Red. I know you're more comfortable hanging back with the holy water or a crossbow, but... always gonna be a chance that something will make it past us and crowd in on you." She grinned, "That happens, we'd _kinda_ like you to stay alive until one of us can break loose to lend a hand, y'know?"

"Well, yeah," Willow gave an enthusiastic nod. "I'm kinda there too. Alive being, like, a good thing and all."

Faith nodded. "Cool. 'K, Giles and I were talking, and we figured we'd start mixing in weapons next week. Swords and shit." There were various sounds of enthusiasm from the others. "Meanwhile," she added, "Let's do a quick patrol, and then head to the Bronze?"

"Coolness," Oz remarked.

Xander and Cordelia broke off a short distance from the others and had a quiet conference that ended with Xander nodding and gently running his thumb over his girlfriend's lips while cupping her cheek. When they turned back, he had a slight concerned look, quickly masked by his usual grin.

_'Wonder what that's about?'_ Faith thought. She looked an inquiry at Xander, but got back only a slight shrug in response.

"Think I'm going to call it a night after patrol," Cordelia said, shaking her head. "I'm still kind of wrung out." She blinked, her eyes going distant for a moment, then turned the thousand watt grin on Faith. "Unlike _some_ people, I actually wake up before noon on school days."

"Hah." Faith nodded, "Works."

"I'm up for the Bronze after, but I'm going to cut out early too," Xander said, giving Cordelia's shoulder a squeeze. The others filed off to the restrooms and storeroom to change, leaving her studying Xander's back as he and Cordy headed back with his arm around her waist.

She definitely hadn't imagined Cordy's briefly unfocused expression or Xander's unmasked look of naked concern at her while she was talking. Nor Oz's quick, covert skeptical look at her.

Very strange.

**................................................**

_**Tuesday September 8, 1998; Sewer and tunnel complexes under Sunydale, night.**_

Dacascos straightened from his study of Rhoden's computer display at the sound of the chamber's door swinging open. With a casual glance in the direction of the visitor, he made a negligent 'wait' gesture and turned back to the display, crossing his arms and continuing his study. Finally, he clapped Rhoden lightly on the shoulder, nodding.

"Keep working it it. I like the possibilities inherent in being able to tie into Sunnydale's traffic and security camera net," he stated.

Rhoden nodded. "Whoever set this up for City Hall put in decent security, but it shouldn't be unbreakable."

Dismissing the conversation with another nod, Dacascos turned to the door, greeting his lieutenant with a tight smile. "Ice."

"Visitors," Ice remarked.

"Ah. The ones we're expecting?" At Ice's nod, Dacascos' smile broadened slightly. "Send them in." Turning slightly toward the computers again, he said, "That reminds me: anything back yet on our other message?"

"Our contact down there passed it on," Rhoden stated, "He's expecting to hear back from his contact with a 'yes' or 'no' soon. Said he'll pass word back when he does."

"Excellent." Dacascos returned his attention back to the entrance as a small and disparate group of individuals filed in followed by Ice and Lohse. Studying them carefully, he let them wait until he'd finished his assessment.

Vampire, demon, vampire, demon.

The first was a tall, angular female vampire. Studded and pierced with multiple rings through the ears, eyebrows, lips, and nose, she looked like she'd probably glitter under a streetlight. A medium length magenta mohawk offset a light grey man's suit with a black dress shirt and matching magenta tie. Unusual, and a bit pretentious, but a rather striking effect. She ignored both the wait and Dacascos scrutiny with a clearly studied indifference.

The next stood together and slightly apart from the others as a pair. One was compact and powerfully built, looking as through he could probably give Bennedikt Lhose a reasonable tussle. His pinkish-purple skinned torso was scaled, and a bony crest extended from the back of his (its?) head, up and around the bone covered crown, until it met at the center of the forehead and down the bridge of the nose. He wore a simple pair of baggy black cargo pants and a leather vest. The vampire next to him was an almost studied contrast to his companion: a thin, nondescript, ratlike looking fellow in a seedy looking, ill fitting, pin striped suit. The vampire's eyes were constantly roving over everything and everyone in the room within visual range with a calculating look. Dacascos disliked him at first glance.

As tall as the second demon was powerful and squat, the last was a lanky individual with wrinkled, leathery chocolate skin, wearing a dark gray outfit of some tough looking fabric. He had a bald head with wispy, scraggly strands of white hair depending from the back of the skull and his chin and cheeks. He returned Dacascos' scrutiny with a look that was contemptuous and filled with undisguised hostility and arrogance.

"Gentlemen, lady," Dascascos nodded at the quartet, the 'lady' in question returning it with a smirk - the first expression she'd broken since entering. "So pleased that you're able to join us."

"You had a job offered, we're here," the female vamp said, shrugging.

"And the sooner you give us some specifics on the job," the leathery demon's voice was deep and unexpectedly melodious for the looks of the speaker, "The sooner we can get to it."

Ignoring both speakers, Dacascos eyed the seedy looking vampire intently, smiling slightly when the thin fellow shifted uneasily. "I was only expecting three, not four."

The thinner vamp jerked like he'd been scalded. "We're a set. Between us, we're a force to be reckoned with - greater than the sum of our whole." Bristling a bit, he added, "My partner provides the muscle, I provide the genius, making us a veritably undefeatable combination."

There was a snort from Lohse's direction. "Right," he drawled, causing the small vamp to bristle more and drawing a calm, amusement tinged stare from the muscular demon.

Dacascos shook his head, grinning. "All right," he said. "I have two problems." Four sets of eyes came back to him with expressions of interest as Lohse continued to study the seedy vampire with undisguised contempt. "One is a Slayer who's been proving to be unexpectedly innovative in finding ways to disrupt my above ground operations and trafficking." The mohawked vamp and the leathery demon's interest sharpened at the 'Slayer' mention.

"The other," Dacascos continued, "Is an unknown quantity that's been stalking my above ground dealers and informants and... disposing of them. The two problems may or may not be connected. I want both of them to become non impediments to my business, regardless of connections or lack there of."

The female vampire cocked her head, studying Dacascos back. "We were only informed of one contract."

Shrugging, Dacascos said, "Finalize both and the fee doubles, with a bonus. Finalize one or the other and get the normal rates." She nodded.

The purplish, scaled demon scrutinized Dacascos carefully, then turned and gave Lohse and Ice a long study as well before turning back. "Have to kind of wonder why a 'master vampire' needs us to take out a Slayer and a vamp hunter," he stated. "Not like you're short on muscle of your own." His companion smirked and a broad row of pointed teeth showed in the demon's grin, "No offense."

Nodding, Dacascos shrugged slightly. "You four are professionals at killing. Your job entails eliminating problems and taking risks." He smiled tightly, strolling casually along the row of contract killers. "We're professional businessmen. Our job entails moving merchandise and accumulating money and power, not killing."

His left hand blurred and a shocked look crossed the face of the ratty looking vampire, briefly. Dacascos stepped back away from the dust cloud, dispassionately examining the eight inch ironwood and steel push dagger projecting between the fingers of that hand for a moment before turning the expressionless look on the crested demon.

"No offense taken," he remarked. "And I do hope I didn't just give you a lobotomy."

The scaled, crested demon glanced down at the dust pile, and back up at Dacascos with equal dispassion. "It's going to cost me to find a new partner and manager," he stated.

"I'll compensate you for your loss," Dacascos said, dryly. "If you remaining three will follow Lohse, he'll fill you in with descriptions and all of the available intelligence we have on your targets. He'll also give you the run down on Sunnydale and its environs and the various information and other resources here."

Stepping to one side, Ice followed the remaining contractors out with his gaze until the door closed behind them and a smirking Lohse. He studied the dust pile for a long moment, then smiled, looking up, "I suspect that you just quartered the intelligence quotient of that duo," he remarked.

"If the Slayer gives him a death by stupidity, then we're only out an earnest fee," Dacascos said. "Anything come back to you yet on the black vans some of our people keep reporting?"

Ice shook his head. "Nothing of substance. I've put a couple of minions on it full time, but they're hampered a bit by having to keep clear of Faith and her associates."

"Right. It's probably something our esteemed Mayor has going, but it'd be nice to be certain," Dacascos said. "Speaking of His Honor, it's time for you to accompany me to deliver City Hall's unearned cut of our proceeds. We mustn't keep the nice fellow waiting."

"He gets so very cranky when that happens," Ice agreed.

***********************************************


	5. Chapter 4: Playing Solitaire 'til Dawn

**Chapter 4: Nor Playing Solitaire 'til Dawn (With a Deck of 51) -**

_**Tuesday September 15, 1998; Sunnydale, The Bronze, night.**_

An exhilarated Faith broke off from Scott as the current number ended, laughing when he begged off from another dance. Grinning and shaking her head, she followed him back to the tables where their friends were sitting. Friend: Tamara must have found someone to dance with, or have wandered off to the ladies room or something, leaving Xander the lone non-dancing holdout. Aura hadn't even shown; like Cordy, she'd pled feeling 'off' tonight and stayed home to nurse a headache, according to the Caribbean girl. Faith straddled a chair as Scott slumped into the one next to it, breathing heavily.

"Hey, guy," Faith said. Xander blinked, turning his attention from the dance floor and favoring her with his usual half grin. More-or-less usual. Faith carefully blanked a frown off of her face as she recognized the complete lack of normal 'Xanderness' in the grin. Cocking her head slightly, she studied him, adding, "Just 'cause the Cordy earlied out's no need to lose all the fun."

"Huh?" Xander blinked again, then shook his head. He gave a short laugh, coming back a bit more to her usual friend. "No. Naw, just have some thing on my mind, Faith. I gots the fun, honest," he said, twisting in his seat to the music to demonstrate.

"Right." Faith nodded as Scott laughed. "You gots the spaz, anyway," she joked.

"Hey, for me _that's_ where the fun is," Xander cracked back. "'Cause I'm the Spaz Man, jazz man."

Scott shook his head, saying, "I'm going to leave you two bickering over putting the spaz back into fun while I head up for drinks." he made a show of glancing at his watch, then over his shoulder at the crowd. "If I leave now, I can be back with refreshments sometime before Homecoming."

"That would be of the good," Faith allowed. She made a suggestion for her drink, and watched as Xander waved Scott off without ordering anything for himself.

Once Scott had disappeared into the Bronze's Tuesday night crowd, Faith vacated her chair and slid into the wall booth next to Xander, getting a startled look as he wrenched his attention back from the dance floor.

"Ok, give, Harris," Faith demanded, nudging him with her leg. "You been kinda off ever since you showed up in the library this afternoon on your free period. What gives?"

"Hmmm. You tell me," Xander suggested, returning his attention to the busy dance floor. He cut off Faith's comment by throwing his arm across her shoulders and giving her far shoulder a slight squeeze, pointing out to the couples with that hand. "Anything seem... _odd_ to you?"

"Huh. It's the _Hellmouth_, Xan. Everything seems 'odd' to me here," Faith stated. Even so, she followed his pointing finger and scanned the dance floor until her eyes landed on a flash of red hair that resolved itself into a sensually gyrating Willow. Cocking her head, she studied the redhead and her boyfriend.

"I better move this before Scott tears it off and beats me with it," Xander remarked as he withdrew his arm from across her shoulders.

Faith smirked and continued to watch the floor, periodically coming back to Willow and Oz. After a bit she spotted Tamara dancing with one of the jocks, Blayne or something or other. A laughing Willow grabbed Oz by the arm after the song ended, refusing to let him off the floor before the next one began. Tamara patted her partner on the chest, smiling, and began making her way back to the tables and her drink.

"Ok... " Faith frowned slightly. "Will's a bit looser than normal, but not too much so." She gave Tamara a friendly nod as the black girl slid into her chair, continuing. "And she's been kinda coming out of her shy spot for the past few weeks."

"Hah." Tamara shook her head. "Shoulda seen her unload on Snyder at lunch today." Xander nodded.

"Huh." Faith took that in, continuing to watch. "That reminds me of something, but I can't place it," she said, finally.

"Well," Xander stretched, then nudged Faith in the side with his elbow. "I'm going to go catch some air for a minute." He caught Faith's eye as she slid out of the booth to let him up and flicked his eyes to the front door and back.

"Sounds good," Faith remarked. "Tell Scott I followed the dork here to make sure he doesn't get mugged?" She trailed after Xander at Tamara's wave, following him out the front and then out along the sidewalk until he picked a spot to lean up against the side of the club.

Casually leaning a short bit away facing him, Faith studied him for a few minutes. "Ok. Will's obviously got you a bit spooked?"

Xander shook his head, sticking his hands in his jacket pockets. "Not just that, no. Whole day's got me a bit wigsome." Cocking his head and studying her back, he asked, "You sense anything off about anyone today?"

"Huh." Faith stared at him for a minute, then closed her eyes and let her impressions of Red, Cordelia, the club, and other people go through her mind. After a bit, she opened them again. "Oz, but he usually sets off my slayer sense just a touch. Other than that... there's been something kinda right at the edge of my nerves, but I can't pin it to anything."

"Hmmm." Xander scowled, hunching into his jacket a bit. The corner of his lips quirked up and he gave her a direct look. "I understand you had a close encounter with our resident psychotic thug?"

It took a moment for Faith to translate that, and then the corners of her lips quirked up in return. "A couple of them."

Xander's eyebrows went up. "A couple?" He shook his head, "Didn't occur to you to mention that?"

Faith bit her lip, then reached up to push her hair back with both hands. "Err. Yeah, but it kept slipping my mind." She smirked, "Kinda like it must've done yours after your run in with the O'Toole last week."

"Oh." Xander's expression went comical and Faith snickered. "Uh. It was kind of a busy week," he said. "And close encounters with school bullies barely even register these days."

"Hear that," Faith said, nodding. "Kinda small stuff compared to what we see."

Xander nodded back, grinning, then he sobered, a dark expression crossing his face as he glanced away. "A little birdy told me that the thug trio tried leaning on Cordy end of last week," he remarked.

"Son of a-- " Faith started to swear, then broke off abruptly, giving Xander a curious look. "Huh," she said, cocking her head again. Her eyes went slightly opaque.

"Huh?" Xander gave her an honestly curious look, and she shook her head, her eyes clearing.

"_You_ just pinged on my slaydar there for a sec, when you were talking about Jack and the C," she stated. "Real low level. Kinda the way Oz does sometime, or that Tor and Heidi pair."

Xander's eyes widened, and he pushed off from the wall, running a hand through his hair. "I _really_ didn't need to hear that right now, thanks." Scowling, he kicked at the wall.

Faith shrugged.

"Fuck," Xander said, causing Faith's eyes to widen a bit at the unexpected vulgarity from him. The corner of his mouth twitched up into a half grin, and he met her eyes evenly. "I'm gonna cut out here. Need to go see a man about a dog." Faith watched him curiously, not responding. Xander added, "You mind keeping your eyes and slaydar open for anything unusual with Will or anyone else?"

Nodding slowly, Faith shoulder pushed off the wall herself. "Sure. Like, any idea for _what_?" Her voice came out a bit exasperated at the end of the question.

"If I did, it wouldn't be a question, would it?" Xander shook his head, giving out with a harsh laugh. "Dunno, slay gal. I'm either losing my mind completely, or something bizarre is up."

"Heh. And we shouldn't rule out the losing your mind thing, huh?" Faith's mouth twisted. "'K. Watch for random oddness. Got it."

"Yup. And if you can, pull Tamara off to one side and Oz and get them to tell you about lunch," Xander said. Picking up his pack from by his feet, he gave her the half grin again and turned out towards the parking lot.

"Hey," Faith called out after him. "Dark out. Got protection?"

Half turning, Xander called back, "Half a tank of gas, Holy Paintballs of Doom, stakes, an axe, it's night, and I'm wearing sunglasses." He hoisted the pack one handed in a kind of a wave.

Snickering, Faith shook her head, "Guess you're all set, Elwood."

"I'm Jake. _You're_ Elwood," drifted back to her.

**................................................**

_**Tuesday September 15, 1998; Los Angeles, night.**_

Shaking his head, Pike looked up from his coffee cup at Buffy. "Man, ok, that's one hell of a story," he stated.

"Even told in disjointed Buffyesque fashion?" Buffy said, teasing.

"Well, I did want to call for a translator at several points. And someone with a Power Point presentation," Pike said, his lips twitching at the corners. Buffy snorted, balling up her napkin and miming throwing it at him. Pike ducked his head, laughing.

Feeling more relaxed than she had in the past few weeks, Buffy made a slight face at him. "Ok, so let's see you do better at explaining Sunnydale and the Strange Life and Bad Choices of Buffy Summers, Mr. Power Pointy." She grinned around her straw, finishing the last of her milkshake.

"Oh no," Pike held up his hands in surrender. "Not _even_ gonna go there." Grinning, he said, "You heard how mine came out."

"Oh yeah," Buffy agreed. "All stop and go and to and froish across things. I have whiplash now." Sighing, she gave him a level look, "Seriously, that was painful. Must have been hell to go through."

"Was," Pike agreed, his eyes going distant for a moment. "Guess you can see why I freaked a bit?"

"Well, it was kind of a quiet and restrained freaking," Buffy admitted. "Xander had more of a loud and abrasive freaksome thing going at the end. Not that I could blame him so much, really." Cocking her head, she asked, "So what now?"

"Huh." Pike shrugged. "Depends on what we both want to do? I'd like to say that we make the past the past and just figure out what's ahead and go on, but it's never really that easy, is it?" Buffy shook her head. Pike nodded, blowing his breath out, "So... how about we start with the basics?"

"Which are?" Buffy asked curiously. "Right now, I have a hard time sorting out basic from all the jumble and complexy."

"Basic: I think we can agree we both like each other. Have ever since we got past sniping at each other at Hemery," Pike said. Buffy nodded. "Basic," he continued, "Safe to say neither of us is without screwups in the past. And we're probably going to make more of them in the future." Buffy frowned, but she nodded again, and Pike finished with, "So how about we just accept what's done and try not to let it get in the way? Go back to hanging out and enjoying each other, take it slow, and see where it goes?"

"Sounds good," Buffy said after a long pause. She nodded a bit more decisively, then added a bit hesitantly, "So, uh, how do you do that?" Her voice was a bit plaintive.

Pike tossed his head back laughing. "Uh, fuck if I know? I'm still trying to work on just getting up in the morning and putting one foot in front of the other."

"Oh, gee, you're a _great_ help," Buffy teased, laughing. "But I can get with the one foot thing." She sighed again, "Now if I could just get with the unscrewing my head thing."

Nodding, Pike said, "Yeah, well, sometimes you just have to go with: 'what we _feel_ doesn't always have anything to do with what we _think_' and run with that fact. What we _do_ in spite of it matters."

"Ok, so where's Pike and what have you done with him?" Buffy asked, laughing. "When did you go from par-tay animal to philosopher and Mr. Maturity?"

"Well, I _am_ a couple of years older than you," Pike said, grinning. "Mr. Held Back Senior Wasteoid, remember?" He put his hand up, catching the crumpled napkin Buffy did throw at him this time. "Who knew Mr. Starkey's remedial psyche class would come in handy post-Hemery?"

"Who knew you actually stayed awake in it?" Buffy shook her head, grinning back. "So, back to movie nights on days off and the occasional non-datey thing for awhile while we sort?"

Pike nodded. "Sounds good," he said. "For awhile anyway - I'm taking a two month offshore contract on a rig from the second week of October through the first week of December to make sure our bank account stays healthy."

"Wow," Buffy started at him. "That's not long away. Two whole months from home... isn't that kind of hard on Elena?"

"Well, yeah," Pike admitted, scowling. "But I have to weigh keeping a roof, meals, and clothes on her back too. And making sure we have a pad to fall back on in case anything happens." He spread his hands, "I don't like it, but... it means a couple of months of her living with her Gran Mama and me being away while I work my butt off for thirty some-odd an hour plus all the overtime and time and a half I can survive. Trade off."

Buffy's jaw dropped. She swallowed a couple of times, staring at him, "T-thirty... wow. All of a sudden I want to spit on Helen's and my minimum wagey thing."

"Hey, diesel mechanics make good money, who knew?" Pike laughed. "And offshore contracts pay a premium for short term help." He spread his hands slightly, sobering a bit, "Elena's always going to be my top priority. I don't like being away, but I'll sacrifice a little now to make sure she's taken care of in the long run."

"Huh." Buffy nodded, then frowned slightly. "Isn't that kinda at odds though?" At Pike's inquiring look, she elaborated, "I mean... squaring that with vamp hunting with Gunn and his people?"

Pike looked away out the window for a time, finally shrugging and looking back at her. "Yeah, well... 'taking care of' covers more than just groceries. Someday, Elena's going to find out about the real world and things. I want her to be able to look at her daddy when she does and not see someone who buried his head in the sand and ran away from it." He gave her an even look, "Not a safe world. Every vamp we kill makes one less that I have to worry about being a threat to her."

"Trade-off, right," Buffy said after considering for awhile. "Being a grownup sucks, doesn't it?"

"Heh. Yeah," Pike said, laughing. "Hey - it's late. Let's walk back to my truck and I'll give you a ride home."

**................................................**

_**Tuesday September 15, 1998; Sunnydale, Corner's Drive-In and Malt Shop, late night.**_

Limping slightly, Xander leaned up against a telephone pole to catch his wind before heading across to the Drive-In by the Highway 101 exit. A lone vamp, blinded and smoking from a face full of Holy Water paintballs, had still gotten a kick into his hip before he'd managed to side step and get the end of one of the shorter sharpened bokken through its heart from behind.

He didn't think anything was broken, but he was pretty sure he was going to have a bone deep bruise once it had a chance to stiffen up overnight. The elbow scrape over his eye stung worse. Whoever had the bright idea of inventing vampires _really_ needed a stern talking to, following by a beating across the head and shoulders with an axe. Followed by decapitation, burning, and hanging.

Maybe the hanging was overkill.

Rubbing his hip, Xander grimaced and then straightened up from the pole to hobble across the street to Corner's. He could see Tor's restored Barracuda parked near the front of the empty lot as he crossed the vacant street. Reaching the door, he looked inside the nearly empty restaurant until he spotted the pair of former thugs, former hyenas and took a deep breath, pushing it open and striding in.

Ok. Maybe former. And maybe striding, if you squinted and ignored the limp.

"Hey." Xander nodded to the two, un-slinging his pack and setting it next to an empty chair across from them. Looking around, he could see that the drive in hadn't changed since he and Jesse used to skateboard or bike down here in the 7th grade. Same retro 50's seats, tables and booths, same big jukebox, and the same counter - complete with soda fountain in addition to a more modern drink dispenser - and grill. Same rows of drive in slots up front with the ordering intercoms and menu boards for the day car hops to take trays out to. Only in day time, though: no one went out to strange cars at night in Sunnydale.

No one with longevity instincts, anyway.

"Hey, Boss." Heidi grinned up at him, Tor nodding from behind a burger.

"Don't call me Boss," Xander objected, mildly. "Gonna go order... be right back." He headed up to the order counter, carefully ignoring the cheery 'Sure thing, Boss' from behind him.

Returning, he slid into the chair with his drink, letting out a heavy sigh and a heartfelt groan as he stretched his leg out in front of him. Tor frowned slightly.

"You all right?"

"Had a brief discussion with a gang member on PCP," Xander said in a sour tone.

"Ah. Gonna guess he lost the argument," Heidi said, nodding. Xander nodded, glancing curiously from Tor's burger to her plate of salad and dressing.

"You went vegetarian?" Xander asked, frowning. "Err, after the... ?" Heidi rolled her eyes slightly.

"_Always_ been a vegetarian." She frowned slightly, looking down at her plate. "Used to do it with chicken and fish though. Now I can't look meat of any kind in the eye, since... " Xander nodded.

"Me, I still like meat," Tor stated, polishing off his burger and licking his fingers. He washed it down with a slug of coke and swallowed."Can't quite make myself eat pork any more, though. And I used to love a good pork chop."

Xander shuddered. "_Don't_ mention _pork_ in the same conversation as 'the incident'," he said. "And, eew."

The late night counter girl brought out his burgers, and Xander unwrapped and bit into the first of them. After a few minutes chewing, he swallowed, looking across the table. "Ok, gotta question for you two."

"Shoot," Tor said. His tone and expression were noncommittal.

"How much do you two remember about the 'incident'?" Xander asked. He tore into his burger while he waited for responses.

Heidi and Tor exchanged looks for a long several minutes, then apparently reached some conclusion because they both relaxed slightly and shrugged. "Everything," Heidi said. "Not all at once, but after a few weeks of nightmares it started coming back."

"Yup," Tor added. "Kyle and Rhonda couldn't handle it for awhile. They finally moved out with their folks."

"But you guys stayed?" Xander asked, curious.

"Uh... we live here, Xan. And work and go to school here," Tor said, his expression odd. "We grew up here."

"Besides, our folks couldn't afford to move," Heidi added.

"That too," Tor grinned. "We're just trying to make it through to graduation. Then we'll figure it out from there."

Nodding, Xander chewed on that along with his burger. Time for the big one, now. Swallowing again, he took a long drink from his soda and asked, "And how much is left from all that?"

Heidi and Tor exchanged looks again, and then fixed Xander with flat stares. "Some," Tor admitted. "We're a bit faster and a bit stronger than we used to be. Can take a punch better. Heal a bit faster than I remember doing."

Heidi nodded. "Sense of smell, hear better - not like it was during, but... it's more like turning the volume down on a stereo, not like turning the stereo off."

"You?" Tor asked in a deceptively casual voice. Heidi watched Xander curiously, waiting for his answer.

"None." Xander made it come out flat, his voice even, and his eyes not wavering from Tor's. He was pretty sure he pulled off the denial convincingly.

Right up to the point where Heidi made a snorting sound and grinned, saying, "Pull the other one, Xan. It gives chocolate milk."

Tor nodded. He said carefully, "You... register, Xan. On all senses." He spread his hands, looking across the table. "Kind of like your friend Buffy does, only different." He grinned tightly, adding, "And you smell like Heidi, only not girlish like."

"Mostly not like," Heidi said, tilting her head as she watched him.

The odds were pretty good that jumping up, tearing his hair, and pounding on the table and screaming in a Charlton Heston voice 'I am not a hyena!!!' would go over real well. It would probably feel _satisfying_ as all hell, but it probably wouldn't help.

Besides, his leg hurt.

Chewing the last bit of his second burger carefully, Xander considered. After a bit he swallowed, then glared across the table into each of the other two's eyes until their gaze shifted and they looked away. He grinned a bit maliciously when Tor's eyes broke. "Some," he allowed.

"But you don't like realizing that," Heidi said. Xander's head whipped toward her, his eyes hot, but her return gaze was sympathetic and his gaze broke first this time.

"Not so much," Xander admitted. He rolled his shoulders, shifting his leg into a new position with a grimace. "I'm not real fond of a lot of things I did while I was that," he said, his voice flat.

"Try eating a principal," Tor suggested. "Adds a whole new dimension to your regrets list, lemme tell yas."

Staring at him, Xander felt his lips start twitching and then finally he shook his head, a harsh bark of laughter coming out. "I'll just bet it does," he said, starting to laugh harder.

Tor and Heidi both looked at him like he was insane until finally Tor's lips started twitching too. "He had impeccable taste, though," Tor remarked. Heidi stared at him and then burst out laughing herself. Xander doubled over, gasping.

"Oh man, that is just _so_ wrong," Heidi said. "I _liked_ Flutie," she stated, pausing for a beat, "He was tender hearted."

"Oh gods," Xander pounded the table, his eyes starting to water. "You two are _sick_."

"Well yeah," Tor said between gasps of laughter, "But we have real educated palates."

Heidi sprayed soda across the table, shooting a wounded look at Tor. Xander took a deep, shuddering breath, glaring at Tor.

"You don't eat people. _Not_ because there's a Law," Xander pointed an accusing finger at Tor. "Because of the _principal_ of the thing."

Tor choked, spluttering. Heidi thumped him on the back until he quit gasping and he shook his head. "You win, enough."

Xander grinned back at them, then shook his head. "That was just so wrong, but somehow, oddly, I feel _much_ better now."

"It's a sick sad world," Heidi cocked her head, again giving him a sympathetic look. "How long've you been holding that in and burying it?"

"Since it happened," Xander said. His shoulders sagged and he took a ragged breath.

"Cathartic," Tor said, nodding. "We had each other to talk it out with, once we got to where we could stand to look at each other again."

"I had Cordy, later on. But she really couldn't relate or do much more than sympathize while saying 'eww'," Xander admitted. "And there were a lot of things I couldn't tell her."

"The cheerleader's righteous," Heidi said. "Got guts, too."

"That she does," Xander nodded. "You can understand why I'm not too keen on having Jack spill them out for display purposes." The other two nodded. Cocking his head, Xander's brow creased, "Gotta ask: you two weren't exactly on the side of the angels and geeks even before you got possessed. Why are you acting like White Hats now?"

Both of them had another one of those intense nonverbal communication moments, looking at each other uncomfortably. Tor broke eye contact with Heidi and met Xander's evenly. "We're not heroes, Xan. We leave that up to your little geek club and your blonde friend. But somehow, eating someone kinda makes for a shock to your world view, you know?" He shrugged, "Just doesn't feel right to go back to picking on nerds and harassing guys like Jonathan and Lance after that."

"Besides," Heidi added. "Hyenas are territorial. We don't really _like_ other predators on our turf. "Specially not scavengers like Jack and others."

"Heh. And it's more fun to take down other predators," Tor said, laughing. Heidi gave him an indulgent look that had an awful lot of 'damn straight' in it.

Xander stared at both of them for a long time, considering. Finally, he said, "You expect me to believe you had a life changing experience and decided to not be bullies any more?"

Heidi shrugged, "Believe what you want, Xan. But tell me - don't you ever look at some 'gangbanger on PCP' and _not_ just get pissed because he's hunting someone, but because he's doing it in _your_ space, where you _live_? I mean seriously, can't see straight, want him _dead_ dead just for existing on your territory pissed?"

Xander considered that for a long time, thinking hard and running all of the emotions he'd felt on vampires and demons through his head since the hyena episode, trying to separate them from what he'd felt before when he discovered about them. Trying to separate them from what he felt on Jesse's turning and death. After a long time, he nodded slowly.

"I can see that, I guess," he admitted. "You didn't step in to help Jonathan against Jack, though. Just watched."

Tor shrugged. Glancing over, he noticed the night people were shutting down and cleaning the kitchen and counters in preparation for closing. "Let's move this outside." Xander nodded, following them out.

After settling into seats at one of the outside tables, Tor spread his hands. "Like I said. We're not heroes. Just trying to get by alive in this town." He shook his head, "Jack wasn't going to really hurt Jonno. Just bend him a bit."

Heidi said, "He would have killed you, though. We stepped in on that, and on the cheerleader when he would have gone over the edge there. There's a difference."

Xander shook his head, trying to figure out some way to explain it to them and get it across. Finally he gave up. _'You either __get__ that you should stand up for people who can't stand up for themselves, even when it's not life or death, or you __don't__,'_ he decided. _Maybe it's enough that you get what parts of it you can, even if it's not perfect,'_ he thought, followed by, _'Wow. That almost sounded adult. I'm starting to worry myself.'_

"Well, I can't fault you for not playing heroes," he said, finally. "Especially not when you did when it counted."

"Por nada," Tor said. "Can't let the Boss's mate get taken down. It ain't right."

"Don't call me 'Boss'," Xander said, reflexively. "Ok, back to my question from earlier today," he said, pinning Heidi in her seat with his eyes. "I need to know what you've been noticing."

Heidi looked away uncomfortably. "Like I said earlier, there's... " she trailed off.

"There's _what_?" Xander demanded. His ability to be circumspect was wearing thin, along with his patience and his irritation was growing pretty damn quickly. He was tired, weirded out, worried about his friends, and his hip hurt. Heidi knew something useful. And Xander knew she knew it, though he couldn't say how, other than by some instinct down in his guts combined with the way she'd been watching Hideyoshi in class today. He felt the sensation of his stomach twisting as Heidi waffled.

"Look," Heidi said, looking away nervously. "I don't want to talk about it."

"Last time someone told me that, people died," Xander said in a flat voice. "People who could have lived. Sorry, the number you have dialed is no longer in service. Try again."

Heidi wilted under Xander's stare and shook her head, blonde hair falling into her face. "Something's got my nerves on edge, but I'm not real sure what. It's been itching at me since this morning. Really can't explain it, Xan. Just kind of an odd feeling, you know?"

"No, I really _don't_," Xander said. He gritted his teeth slightly in irritation.

"I think you do," Heidi countered, fixing him with a flat stare in turn, tossing her head back and giving a high pitched laugh. Her head fell forward until her startlingly bright hazel-brown eyes were fixed on his and her expression was one of dark amusement. "_Tell_ me you don't feel things grating along the edge of your nerves that you can't explain sometimes."

"Heidi... " Xander's voice came out low and soft and dangerous. "You really don't want to jerk me around... " He felt himself rising out of his seat, heedless of the pain and stiffness in his hip, and an oddly sensation of watching events unfold from a distance outside of himself coming over him.

"Ease up, Xan," Tor's voice brought Xander back to himself, and he sat back down abruptly, suddenly realizing he'd been standing up leaning over the table with Heidi pressed back in her seat away from him. "Let's not go there, Xan," Tor said. "No one here really wants to go there with you, and you really don't want to hurt Heidi, right?"

Xander exhaled slowly and shut his eyes, shuddering slightly as he thought about the sensations running through him and the feeling of _distance_ from the events he'd been about to watch himself initiate. "Sorry. I don't know what got into me."

"No makey. Just trying to head things off from getting abrupt," Tor said easily. "And not really wanting to have to answer to your sex goddess guardian angel, either."

"Look, why don't you explain what you're looking for," Heidi said, relaxing slightly. "And maybe we can figure out if I know anything that'll help figure it out?"

"Huh." Xander considered both of them, wondering at it for a minute. "Ok. Just how much do the two of you know about the oddness around this town, anyway?"

"Huh," Tor said in return. "Well, we know there's a lot of weird people around with faces that go strange at times and they smell funny. 'Off' funny, not funny ha ha or funny BO. We know that a lot of people get dead here in some pretty strange ways, and sometimes you see them again later." He considered before continuing, "We know there's people around who give off strange vibes and smells, at times, and they _feel_ dangerous. Or things that might not be 'people', but you usually don't see those up close or clearly."

Heidi nodded. "We know there's places you don't go at night, and that this town has a weird vibe to it, right along the edge of your nerves. Especially at the school."

"And that your friend Summers was a lot stronger than a girl her size should be, and you hear things about her - and you guys - being in fights with the the weird people all the time," Tor added. "And your friend Faith has the same type of scent and feel to her that Summers did."

"Hmm." Xander frowned, thinking rapidly. "Ok. But you don't know what it all adds up to?" He got blank looks, and took a deep breath, running his hand through his hair. "Ok. First off... the world is older than we know, and unlike most people believe, it didn't start out as a garden party... "

It took him less time than he thought it would, and at the end of it, Tor and Heidi looked at each other, then back at him. "That'd explain the corpse smell," Heidi said.

"Vampires," Tor said, carefully. "And demons. You know, that really makes a lot of sense when you add it all together."

Xander stared at him, resisting an urge to shake his head in disbelief. "Ok, so you've seen bizarre shamans and rituals with animal spirits, but you didn't add up the 'gangs on PCP' with bumpy foreheads and nasty teeth to 'vampires'?"

"Noo... " Heidi and Tor exchanged looks again. She shrugged, looking back at Xander. "_We_ thought they were aliens. Because of the shifting faces."

Xander threw his head back, a long burst of laughter startled out of him. He shook his head, wiping his eyes. "And I thought _**I**_ watched too many bad sci-fi movies."

"You can never watch too many lame sci-fi movies," Tor said. "That _would_ explain the dead smell, though." Cocking his head, he asked, "How do you kill them? Like in the movies?"

Xander nodded. "Wooden stake in the heart, fire, decapitation. Demons, depends, but cutting off the head's usually a good bet."

"I have a sudden urge to drop out of school," Heidi said. "Or transfer to Miss Porter's." Xander laughed, nodding.

"Ok," Heidi said carefully. "Not sure how anything connects, though. Like I said, I just started getting a _weird_ vibe in class today. Not sure what it was from, but whatever it was set my inner bitch on edge, completely. Like it woke her up all of a sudden." There was an emphasis to the 'inner bitch' that suggested strongly she wasn't using the b-word in the same sense Cordy would.

"Huh. That was the first time I noticed all the girls acting odd," Xander said.

Heidi shrugged, "Stopped grating along the edge of my nerves after a few hours and I quit worrying at it."

Xander raised an eyebrow, thinking. "Cordy, Will, and Aura went back to normal more or less sometime after lunch. Pretty much, anyway." He gave her a look, asking, "You didn't see anyone doing anything that might have caused it? I don't know... just anyone doing something 'odd'?" She shook her head.

"Maybe just a temp effect off of that, what'd you call it, Hellmouth thing?" Tor asked. "And it wore off later?"

"Maybe," Xander shrugged. "Oh well... " he considered for a moment, surprising himself by breaking out in a yawn. "If you feel it in biology tomorrow again, get my attention somehow."

Heidi nodded. She wrote on the table top with an invisible pen and ink, "Make note: if get antsy in biology, throw textbook at Xander."

"Ha ha," Xander said, sourly.

"What are you planning to do about Jack?" Tor asked, his voice casual.

Xander sighed, running a hand through his hair again tiredly. "Jack's managed to annoy Faith. Twice," he said. "I'm thinking he may be a self-correcting problem with a short half life."

Heidi gave him a dubious look. "Your friend Buffy didn't seem like she really had a handle on dealing with things outside of the PCPers."

Xander shook his head, "As Faith'll be happy to pound into anyone who wants to push the point: she's _not_ Buffy." He yawned again, "Ok, I'm gone. Not gonna get _nearly_ enough sleep to deal with class tomorrow as it is." He stood up, grimacing as he put weight on the vamp kicked hip.

"We'll give you a ride," Tor said. "Just promise not to tell anyone you got geek cooties inside of my 'Cuda."

***********************************************


	6. Chapter 5: I Were Walking in Your Shoes

**Chapter 5: ****But ****If I Were Walking in Your Shoes (I wouldn't worry none) -**

_**Wednesday September 16, 1998; Sunnydale High School, 8:15 A.M.**_

Yawning, Xander ambled up to where the gang was gathered together in a small clump leaning against the front walk railings. Ok, limped up in a kind of ambling way: his hip was a lot better than when he'd fallen into bed, but it still wasn't one hundred percent yet. His mood was worse: catching his dad up late, still drinking when he came in, had led to yet another querulous and belligerent 'discussion' over his out all day and all night habits before he could escape to his room. He plastered something that resembled his usual half grin on and continued ambling.

"Morning," Oz drawled, giving him a short nod.

"Something like," Xander agreed, sliding an arm around Cordelia's waist as she slid in next to him. He leaned down to nuzzle against her hair, closing his eyes as he drank in the aroma of her conditioner and the uniquely 'Cordyness' of her scent. _Just_ the antidote for aroma de Harris residence.

"Hey," Cordelia tilted her head up at an angle for a kiss, blinking at him after they broke off. "What's with the limp, Hop Along?" Her eyes flickered to the purplish scrape on his forehead and back to his, her teeth worrying at her lower lip.

"Vamp," Xander stated, grimacing as Willow's eyes widened slightly in alarm.

"Oh my god," Cordelia pulled away from him to give him a thorough examination from arm's length. "Ok, you can't be _too_ bad off - you're walking anyway."

"Not of the big," Xander grinned, holding his hands up in a reassuring gesture. "One vamp. Got a lucky kick in before I staked him." Both girls relaxed slightly.

"That's what you get, Buster, for heading off on your own from the Bronze last night," Willow stated in a chiding tone. Cordelia arched an eyebrow at the 'alone' part.

"Yeah yeah," Xander said in a distracted tone while returning Cordelia's thorough examination. Both of them looked and were acting a lot closer to their normal selves today, closer than yesterday, anyway. Willow was her normal, chipper self, and Cordy seemed to have lost the subdued air she'd been sporting almost all of yesterday.

"Yeah yeah yourself, Dweeb," Cordelia shot back, grinning. She dug her fingers into his ribs as she slid her arm back around his waist and molded herself against him again while he wriggled. "Best _not_ get yourself killed and leave _me_ all alone in outcastland. I'll get you resurrected _just_ so I can kick your ass." Willow nodded enthusiastic agreement.

While laughing, a part of Xander's mind was processing impressions and checking anomalies against 'norms' for the girls. He met Oz's eyes over Cordelia's head and got a raised eyebrow and a microscopic shrug in answer to his inquiring look. Check: Oz wasn't one hundred percent reassured either.

"Just what I love about you, Cordy: your ability to make my death all about your issues," he joked.

"Damn straight," Cordelia said. "What's _your_ pathetic life except in relation to the importance of your role in validating _my_ existence, huh?"

Leaning into Oz, Willow shook her head with an eye roll. Xander grinned, throwing her a wink. "Looking good today, Willster," he said. "Don't sweat the C-stuff. That's just her way of saying 'gee, I'm glad you didn't get turned into vamp chow because I'd have missed you'. Gotta learn how to translate the Cordy-speak."

"Thanks," Willow said, blushing furiously.

No lie: apparently the Cordy magic had stuck somewhat. Willow had traded yesterday's russet and elegance for a more casual look involving a stonewashed looking green denim vest over a pale green, almost green-white, knitted looking cowled blouse and matching green jeans, but she still looked pretty sharp. And way stylish in comparison to her usual. The eternally seventeen year old in his brain went _'Wow! Willow's a girl!'_ in something akin to amazement. The Xander had grown up considering Willow his little sister and guy-type-friend-with-girl-parts, not to mention that was becoming more and more solidly attached to his Cordelia shaped friend, shook off the awareness while watching Willow beam at the compliment. '_Willow is __not__ a girl, Xan,'_ he reminded himself, '_That way lay badness.'_

"Yup. Gilding the Willow, definitely," he stated. '_Willow is __not__ a girl, Xan,'_ he firmly reminded himself, '_That way lay badness.'_

"Well, not so much _gilding_, 'cause that involves hot metal applying and- " Willow cut off abruptly, "Oh, and that's a compliment. Right," she grinned back at him. "Hey! Wouldn't be right to have Faith and Cordy go to all this trouble and not wear it, you know?" Oz gave her a squeeze, smiling indulgently.

"Hey! What about me, Doof?" Cordelia tossed in with a mock sniff. She threw Willow a slight wink.

"You _always_ look good, dear, even in tramp wear," Xander said. He grinned again, wriggling away from the expected poke in the ribs and outraged huff. Which she did, although the tramp-wear crack was probably uncalled for. Unlike her usual body flaunting outfits, today's ensemble consisted of a cream, white, brown, and red, Navajo patterned cowl-neck sweater with bloused wrap around pants in a dark chocolate color that matched her hair almost exactly. With soft leather slouch boots almost matching the cream sweater completing the look, it was both flattering, elegantly expensive - and a bit outside of Cordelia's usual style. And he was _way_ too aware of female clothing styles, he reflected. He _really_ needed some more guy friends...

"Mucho gorgeous," he added. "Kind of a different look though, isn't it?"

"What? We're allowed to spruce up the Willow but I can't change styles? Oh please," she threw back, laughing. Cordelia shrugged, "Just felt like pulling something different out of the closet for once, that's all."

Nodding, Xander glanced at Oz again while replying, "Sure. By the way - you two feeling better today?"

"Oh, sure," Cordelia said as Willow nodded against Oz's shoulder. "Tired, but back to normal." She frowned slightly, adding, "Must've been some weird one day bug or something."

"Return of the Hellmouth flu," Oz remarked, getting an 'eew' look from both girls. "Bell," he added, just about five seconds before it rang.

"Ok, that's spooky," Xander stated as they fell in step towards the school entrance. "Radar O'Reilly-ing around this school's gonna get you talked about."

"It's a knack," Oz admitted. "Didn't claim it was a healthy knack."

**................................................**

_**Wednesday September 16, 1998; Sunnydale Motor Lodge, 8:30 A.M.**_

There was a _horrible_ noise somewhere and it wouldn't go away. At first she thought it was coming from something Scott was doing on the dance floor, maybe from his pants, and then she realized he was looking just as puzzled as she felt. Besides, he wasn't wearing any pants. Then she thought maybe it was some bizarre prank Xander was pulling on her, but when she checked, he and Oz were still thoroughly immersed in their version of Soul man up on the Bronze's stage and sounding pretty good.

She was gonna have to have a _serious_ word with the Xan, though. The mime paint just wasn't working with the Joliet Jake look. Not even with the Ray Bans...

The noise went away and she muttered something and went back to losing herself in dancing, only to get yanked out of the mood again a short while later when it started back up. This time it was annoying enough to stop her dead with a curse and yank her back around toward the stage, muttering. A solid impact jarred her and she opened her eyes, only to slam them shut again with a curse as a bright light lanced through her eyeballs.

Great. Half off the bed and the 'bright light' was the overhead room light in her motel room. Which meant that she wasn't at the Bronze, and the horrible noise was coming from her pants pocket on the floor next to her. Cell phone. Right. Why couldn't she have normal dreams about Cordy and Xander sandwiches? Sheesh...

Growling, Faith dug the pre-paid out of her pocket and checked the display. 8:30am - if this was Xan or one of the guys, they'd better have a damned good reason for calling at this time of the morning. Not a number she recognized, which didn't help her mood any. She hit the talk button and stuck the phone to her ear, snarling out, "What the fuck?"

"Slayer?"

The voice was vaguely familiar but not really recognizable, sounding almost as if the speaker had a mouthful of marbles. "Who the fuck is this?" Faith demanded. The only people who should have this number were in the gang...

"Huh? Whattaya mean? It's me - your favorite bartender and punching bag, jeeze."

Oh. The gang and Willy. Ok, that wasn't helping her mood. "It's eight thirty in the fucking morning, Rat-face. This better be _real_ freaking good," Faith told him. She swung her legs off of the bed and got to her feet while waiting for the response.

"Uh... did I wake you up?"

The inarticulate noise Faith made in response to that must have sunk home somewhere as there was a note of definite panic in the voice when Willy started babbling in response.

"Ok! Ok! Sorry, jeeze. I just thought you might wanna know that a bunch of goons came and broke up my bar late late last night just after closing looking for information on you and your buddies, Christ. I'll hang up and let you get back to sleep, jeeze. Try and do a body a favor... "

"Don't. You. Fucking. Dare. Hang up," Faith grated out, sitting on the edge of the bed with a thump. She ran her free hand through her hair, pushing it back out of her face. "Ok, run that by me one more time? Slowly, and use small words."

There was a slight pause, followed by an odd noise. If that was a snicker, Faith was going to kill the little weasel. Slowly.

"I _said_ a bunch of thugs came by and shook me down looking for info on ya. Thought you might wanna know."

"Right. 'K," Faith sighed heavily. "All right. Gimme a bit, and I'll swing by the bar to get the low down. Crap. Thanks."

"Well, you _can_, but it'd work better if you swung by Sunnydale General," Willy stated. "'Cause you'd be more likely to find me here than at the bar."

"OK. You're dead. Don't go anywhere," Faith said. "What room number? I'm gonna bring flowers for your funeral."

"Uh... 213. Jeeze, Slayer, you wake up on the wrong side of bed or what?" Whatever else Willy had to say was cut off by Faith punching the cut-off button with her thumb and tossing the cell down in the general direction of her pants.

Ergh. Faith buried her face in her hands, yawning and rubbing her eyes. Ok, could be worse. She _could_ have brought Scott back with her and kept him over rather than tossing him out after, going with this 'trying something new' kick she had. That would have been just perfect: wake up yelling about mimes and the Blues Brothers while falling out of bed. She'd _never_ live that one down... she'd have to kill him and hide the body.

Yawning again, she dug a soda from the flat under her bed and took a long swig while padding to the bathroom to take a shower. Way too early for this crap, she decided, throwing a quick glance at her travel clock to double check. Yup: just after 8:40 in the AM. Grrf. Of course, she'd have gotten a lot more sleep if she hadn't had Scott drop her by the G's place from the Bronze, and then spent several hours doing tutoring stuff while talking over what she'd gathered from Oz and Tamara with him...

While it was on her mind, she decided that pretty soon, she was going to have to decide what to do with the Scott situation. This was getting to be the longest period of time in a long while she'd been involved with a guy without hauling him off to get her 'uhng' on, and it was starting to drive her nuts. Nuts in a kind of a good way, but after all of the near chaste time she'd spent sleeping with Cordy and Xan she was damned near ready to climb the walls.

Mulling the Scott thing over while showering was a good distraction from thinking about whatever Slayer weirdness was about to land on her. She'd find out the scoop on that soon enough when she talked to Willy - no point in worrying at it 'til then. She decided that smothering Willy with a pillow after was probably a bit extreme. It'd most likely get her talked about, anyway.

Part of the problem, she decided, was that unlike a lot of the guys she hauled off to have her way with, she kind of liked Scott. Not in a 'true love' way - Faith didn't believe in 'tru wuv', and especially not after only a week - but he was cute, they clicked, and he seemed to like her back. Throwing him down, screwing his brains out, and throwing him out immediately after just didn't seem right for some reason. A definite hazard to this whole 'dating thing'.

Killing the water just when it started running cold, she grabbed a towel off the rack while thinking on things. Other hazard to the dating thing was that if she didn't bang him and toss him out, she was giving him a perfect shot at dumping her right after getting his nut off. Just like all guys. And keeping him hanging while snagging some guy just to get off with would be giving him a perfect reason to, too.

Jeeze, she was _so_ freaking screwed up in the relationship department, Faith decided. It'd help if they printed manuals for this crap. Tossing the towel in the direction of the rack, she padded to the sink to put her makeup on before getting dressed and arming up.

Screw it. Go see Willy and get the down low, then head up to Brit central and talk some strategy with Giles. Maybe get a chance to catch Xander and see if the weird factor with Will and Cordy or not had died off. And find out exactly what was up - something she _still_ wasn't clear on.

Things used to be a hell of a lot simpler back when she didn't give a damn.

**................................................**

_**Wednesday September 16, 1998; Sunnydale High School Library, 10:30 A.M.**_

"Thank god for Wednesdays," Xander remarked. Oz nodded as they headed in through the stack doors into the library, following him as Xander bounded down the stairs to the main level. One hour wasn't much, but the slightly shorter SHS Wednesday schedule meant it was an hour less time they had to spend around whatever bizarre effect might be going on.

"Ah. Good morning, gentlemen," Giles glanced up from the counter where he was stamping a checkout slip in the back of a student's book selection. Taking in the concerned looks on the two's faces - or at least on Xander's, as Oz had his usual expressionless mask in place - he added, "Be with you in a moment."

Taking in the unexpected scattering of students at various tables at the front of the library, Oz inclined his head towards the corner table at the back rear, leading the way to a seat. Giles wandered back after a few moments to join them, pulling a chair around and leaning casually on the back while adjusting his glasses.

"Hey, Giles," Xander ran a hand through his hair while gathering his thoughts. "Oz said Faith said she was gonna drop by after the Bronze and date you up?" Running the wording through his mind afterwards, he winced slightly, making a vague 'you know' gesture with one hand.

Giles hand froze on his glasses as he processed and deciphered that. "If I'm correctly translating that sentence, then yes, I believe so," he said. He removed his glasses to dangle them from the fingers of one hand, absently. "I'm given to understand that you fear something may be amiss with your female compatriots?"

Spreading his hands, Oz said, "Got it in one." Xander nodded agreement.

"Hrrm." Nodding Giles stated, "She did relay to me her observations and recollection of yours and err, Tamara's commentary to her about the aberrant behaviors you'd noticed, yes." On noticing Xander's blank expression, he added, "Yes, she did 'date me up' as it were, Xander."

"Oh. Good," Xander said. "Uh... "

"Have the odd behaviors you'd noted continued?" Giles asked. "Or have they gone into abeyance today?"

"Abeyance, kind of," Oz supplied, cutting off another round of incomprehension and translation. He cut his eyes sideways to Xander with an amused look, getting a smirk. "More or less back to normal, mostly."

"Still kinda off, but yeah - mostly normal," Xander confirmed. "Cordy's a little bit drabber than usual, and was complaining about being tired and draggy, but that could be nothing odd."

"Hmm." Giles replaced his glasses. "Well, having been severely chastised once by Buffy for writing off a similar situation as being mere 'normal teenaged maleness' - and having been proven in error - I'm loathe to repeat the same error again." He gave a slight smile, "Even if that does run us the risk of being proven paranoid to no good--"

The sound of both of the main doors slamming open jerked all three's heads around in startlement, cutting off Giles' exposition. Faith strode through the wide swinging doors like a gunfighter through a saloon's batwings.

"Hey, G - we gots problems," she called out, then noticed the array of startled looks from the various students scattered around the front of the library. Her jaw clenched and she jerked her chin up, sending a molten glare around the room as she breezed past. Spotting the three of them, she altered course in their direction as students hastily looked anywhere _but_ in her direction.

"And Hurricane Faith makes landfall early," Xander observed, drawing a bemused look from Oz.

"'Ware the storm surge," Oz stated, a very slight smile crossing his lips.

Yanking a chair out from a nearby table and spinning it around to plant one foot on the seat, Faith leaned forward, crossing her arms on her upright knee. "Willy got put in the hospital last night by a bunch of hitters shaking him down for info on us," she stated, her voice lowered to avoid attracting any more attention than she already had. "One of 'em being one of Dacascos' goons."

"And the day gets better," Oz observed.

"Quite," Giles said in a dry voice. Removing a cloth from his inside jacket pocket, he pulled off his glasses and began polishing them with a sigh. "Do continue, Faith," he said.

"Yeah, well," Faith pushed her hair back one handed, then rubbed at her eyes. "He woke me up early on my cell to pass me the news. I just now left Sunny-D General and hoofed it up here." She began outlining what she'd gotten out of Willy before cutting out to head to the school.

The pre-third period bell rang, interrupting the rest of her tale. Oz looked at Xander as the two them rose from their seats and the other students scattered around the library began gathering books together.

"And that's our cue for third period biology," Xander said, rolling his eyes. "Oh joy."

"We both have free period after lunch," Oz said. "We can drop back in then and catch up?"

"Please do," Giles said. "And do keep your eyes open for any further oddities. Faith and I shall fill you in on events on your return."

"Yeah yeah," Faith smirked tiredly. "Willy's not dead and this'll probably keep til then while G and I play match the demons here."

Xander nodded. "With luck, our issue's just a flash in the pan that's done flashed and we can move on to 'normal' Hellmouthiness."

"Think you just jinxed us," Oz remarked as they headed towards the doors.

Xander winced, missing his stride before recovering, "I did that thing, didn't I?" Shaking his head, he said, "Crap."

"Succinctly put."

***********************************************


	7. Chapter 6: No Need to Be Concerned

**Chapter 6: No Need to Be Concerned For Me (I'm having lots of fun) -**

_**Wednesday September 16, 1998; Sunnydale High School Biology Classroom 132, 10:45 A.M.**_

Xander sat down with a grunt. His hip throbbed slightly, but it was mostly just stiffness now. Slamming his book down on the table he cracked his neck with a roll of his head, trying for a surreptitious look around the room as he did so.

Class hadn't started yet, so far so good. The girls had all taken their seats and Oz had a look on his face that just screamed 'carefully expressionless'. Nothing really strange going on at the moment. He noticed that Heidi saw him, and her eyes narrowed for a moment before giving a very tiny respectful nod, her shoulders moving in a very slight shrug. Guess he wasn't the only one to feel a little paranoid at the moment.

Mr. Hideyoshi made his usual entrance from the back of the room just as the last bell was ringing. Xander hardly noticed when Hideyoshi began to drone on the subject of nervous systems. Not like he was going to get an A in this class anyway. But this time, when he was watching for anything bizarre, he noticed the changes begin creeping up...

Some fifteen or so minutes into class, Cordelia leaned forward into her seat and began to slump slightly, almost as if she was wilting in slow motion. Her elbows came slightly away from her body, and when she wasn't looking down at the tabletop, her eyes darted around the room alertly in quick fits and starts. Barely noticeable at first, Xander picked up on it becoming more pronounced the longer he watched. Cordelia was paying attention to the teacher's drone, but mostly she just looked like she was getting more and more tired.

Turning to her with a slight smile, Xander casually dropped a hand to her leg and gave it a slight shake. Cocking her head, Cordelia glanced up at him, startled, then leaned into him with a smile. Raising an eyebrow Xander said, "You ok?"

"Oh, yeah," Cordelia nodded alertly, her eyes dropping. "Just, I dunno. Feeling a bit weird again."

Nodding, Xander let his smile broaden into something that felt reassuring and reached up to brush a strand of hair back from her face. Ok, not of the good: no quick flash of toffee colored eyes and no hiss into his ear to not grope her in class. Porch light's on, but Cordy's not in at the moment. He picked up his pen and went back to idly doodling in his notebook, surreptitiously checking out the rest of the room.

Aura, in contrast, seemed to get more and more excited as the class ran on. It started with her leg bouncing up and down in a rapid motion. But it didn't really stop with that: Xander could swear that she was nearly quivering with anticipation as the class drew out. It seemed like every time Hideyoshi's gaze went over her, she nearly wriggled in place until it swept past. Xander half expected little anxious whines to come from between her slightly parted lips.

Willow seemed to be doing something similar. Unlike Aura's puppy like focus, Willow mostly seemed irritated and itchy. She kept picking at her hair every once in a while and her blouse as well, her attention seeming different from the laser-like Willow-focus that Xander was used to. She hardly seemed to be paying attention to Hideyoshi at all, barely picking up her pen to jot notes with. Periodically she'd turn in her seat next to Cordelia, reaching over to brush invisible lint from Oz or from Cordelia's sweater.

Hideyoshi himself seemed to be exhibiting the standard 'Hellmouth weirdness denial' power that most everyone in Sunnydale seemed to have. He didn't seem to notice Aura and Willow's fidgety behavior, or Cordelia's slumping disinterest. (Not that slumping in a seat, eyes open or shut, was uncommon in this class.) Xander's fidgeting and roving eyes passed under his radar as well, apparently. Hideyoshi just kept a steady expository drone, his rich voice varying in pitch and cadence in a monotonous lecture chant. Judging by his bland expression, Xander could almost figure that Hideyoshi had this lesson so well memorized he could recite it in his sleep - and possibly _was_ doing so, for all of the apparent interest he showed in his topic.

Ah well. Not like Sunnydale High had any _shortage_ of dull teachers marking time while they killed student's brain cells and put classes into comas by voice alone. The only thing that'd stand out in _this_ place would be a teacher that sparkled with energy and interest over a subject...

Leaning back in his seat, Xander shot a quick glance at Oz, then frowned and slid his chair back an inch or so so he could take a longer, better look. The normally composed guitarist had a haunted, ragged edge to his lack of expression that practically screamed 'on edge'. Oz's eyes shifted restlessly, probing into various areas of the biology lab under a slightly creased brow. There was a certain fraying look about him that had nothing to do with his beat up jeans and t-shirt. Pursing his lips slightly, Oz leaned back in his chair with his fingers drumming softly on his notebook. His gaze quartered Xander's side of the rooom, and he quirked an eyebrow at Xander's inquiring look, his frown deepening. Changing position slightly, he shifted in his chair as his eyes went back to probing the room around them.

There was something to the slight movement that struck a chord in Xander's memory and he felt the hair on his own nape rise, his eyes starting to quest through the spaces around the room as well. Freaky - the tiny movement had suggested the restless prowling of the Oz-wolf along the bars of the library cage, never still, and powerfully feral. Oz looked... well, he _looked_ like the morning after a werewolf night. It struck Xander for the first time just how much wolf was suggested in the line of the little teen's jaw and cheek hollows...

As for Xander himself, he felt almost overcome by strange combination of anger and wariness, and a sense of deep irritation prickling along the edges of his nerves. _'Ok, and now __my__ imagination is working overtime,'_ Xander reflected. _'Oz barely shifts and I'm ready to jump out of my skin. Hope no one touches me on the shoulder and shouts Boo! in my ear... ' _He shook his head. _'Feels like something just walked on my grave with hobnailed boots. What the __hell__ is going on around here? Or is that what the __Hell__mouth?'_

Something light glanced off of the back of his head and Xander did damned near jump out of his skin, _barely_ restraining himself from a high pitched scream. Reaching up to rub the hair at the back of his head, he glanced down, spotting a notebook paper folded football on the floor beside and slightly behind his chair. Leaning down and back to pick it up, his gaze went over and past Heidi, returning to her with a jerk.

She gave him a slight nod and a brief but incredibly intense scrutiny, then quirked her lips in something resembling a smile. An almost electric shock of deeply sympathetic understanding passed between them, and Xander nodded back, drawn back to the diner discussion of last night. 'Territorial,' Xander thought. He straightened back up, his head coming around to begin restlessly probing the room with his eyes again. _'Trip trap, __who's__ that trip trapping across my bridge?' _The line from the old faerie tale ran through his head, raising the hairs on his arms just as it had when he was six and his mom used to recite it to him in a mock troll-voice. Turning to throw another glance over his shoulder, he saw that Heidi had half turned in her seat and was casually and intently searching the back and side of the room in a mirror of Xander and Oz's unease, her posture almost bonelessly relaxed and her eyes gone flat.

_'Predators are territorial,'_ he thought. _'And we don't __like__ other predators on our hunting range... '_ Xander's eyes narrowed in understanding and he nodded, absently. Something was hunting where a part of himself had claimed the ground for its own, and it was _deeply_ pissing that part of himself off. He felt stirrings of things he'd buried since Giles' spell had wrenched the Alpha hyena out of him, and with a small shock, he realized that similar stirrings were what were behind Oz's unease and Heidi's boneless predator's slouch.

Jerking his eyes away from Heidi, he felt his anger grow as his own shock at the remembered sensations struggled to overwhelm him. He felt numb, trying to sort out the almost alien emotions in his own head. The ringing of the bell startled Xander - he'd been so deep in thought concerning the weirdness that he'd lost track of the time. Shaking his head he watched as the other students began to file out of the classroom. Getting up, he fell into step with Oz behind the girls as they trailed out with the other students.

"So," Xander remarked. "Weird enough for you?"

"You have no idea," Oz said with a slight shake of his head. His eyes had a haunted look to them.

"Oh, I dunno," Xander said, his eyes following Heidi down the hall as she pushed past Cordelia and Aura, her stride lengthening. "_I'm_ thinking maybe I do." Oz glanced at him sharply, muscles at the corner of his jaw tightening.

His formless anger and the edgy, itchy feeling faded the farther they moved away from that end of the building and Xander threw an uneasy glance over his shoulder, his brow creased. "I'm thinking maybe I do," Xander repeated. "Let's do lunch, shall we?"

"I'd say let's not, but it'd get us talked about," Oz replied.

**................................................**

_**Wednesday September 16, 1998; Sunnydale High School Library, 11:00 A.M.**_

Some time following Xander and Oz's departure, Giles and Faith fell into researching and brainstorming mode like two halves of a well oiled machine.

That is to say: Giles researched after drawing out details of Faith's conversation with Willy and the descriptions of the vampires and demons that had assaulted the bar owner. For her part, Faith alternated between desultorily paging through demon compendiums, distractedly answering questions for details from Giles, staring fretfully into space, and occasionally drumming her fingers on the tabletop while shifting positions and crossing and recrossing her legs. So... maybe 'well oiled' wasn't quite the right word for it, she reflected. More like an engine firing on badly tuned cylinders.

For her part, Dacascos' hit demons were the least of the things weighing on her mind. Faith kept running the past day through her head, including Cordy and Willow's slight 'offness' and Xander's behaviors, and coming to some conclusions she wasn't real thrilled with.

It wasn't until Giles sighed heavily, removing his glasses to set them aside after carefully marking his place in his book, that Faith realized her inner agitation was err, kind of noticeable. She followed Giles' upraised eyebrow to where her hand was gripping the edge of the hardwood table hard enough to leave dents in the wood and flushed slightly. Shooting him an apologetic glance, she hastily let go of the table and stuck her hand in her lap, leaning back in her chair.

"Err, sorry," Faith muttered.

"Quite all right," Giles remarked. "I was merely about to suggest that it's hardly fair to place that defenseless table into such an unequal contest."

"That Brit for 'I should pick on someone my own size'?" Faith's lips twitched up at the corners against her will.

"Perish the thought," Giles said. "As I'm the only one here even remotely meeting that description, I would _much_ rather you picked on the table." At Faith's laugh, Giles gave her a kindly look. "Rest assured, Faith. I have no fear that we shall determine the identities of these demons and the best means for you and your compatriots to deal with them. And I'm certain that Willy shall recover from the hazards of his business dealings."

"Huh?" Faith gave him a startled look. "Oh. Right. Yeah," she made an unconcerned gesture, then pushed her hair back from her face with her hands before crossing her arms over her chest.

"Ah." Replacing his glasses, Giles studied her over the tops for a few moments. "My mistake, then. Should I surmise that something quite different is troubling you?"

"Ah. It's nothing," Faith mumbled, going back to paging through her book. "Just... " she trailed off, "Nothing." She shook her head.

"Well, ah... " Giles trailed off himself, pausing for several minutes. Finally, he ventured, "It might be possible that if we both put out minds to it, we can dispose of this 'nothing' and set it to one side, resolved as it were."

Glancing up, Faith shook her head slightly, raising an eyebrow. "You'll think it's stupid." She went back to her book, carefully watching him out of the corners of her eyes from under her hair.

"Hrmm." Removing his glasses, Giles began polishing them for several minutes before saying, "While it _may_ turn out to be something trivial and easily solved, if it concerns my Slayer to this degree, I hardly believe that I'll think it's a 'stupid' concern." He paused, adding, "However, I can hardly gauge the seriousness or triviality of it without more information."

"Huh." Pretending to study her book for a bit longer, Faith glanced up finally. "No one bothered to tell me they were afraid something Hellmouthy was going on with Cordy and Willow." Pushing her book away, she leaned back, folding her arms and staring at him defiantly.

"Ah. I see." Replacing his glasses, Giles straightened, looking into the distance and drumming his fingers on the tabletop absently for a few moments.

"Said you'd think it was stupid," Faith muttered.

"Nonsense," Giles gave her a sharp look. "I'm merely attempting to process and place things into context, considering that I hadn't heard anything of detail on these matters myself until this morning. Please do not place words into my mouth, Faith."

"Sorry," Faith glanced away.

Sighing, Giles said, "No need to apologize." Regarding her steadily, he said, "Considering that you'd brought the possibility to my attention, I had surmised that you were more 'in the loop' as it were."

"Well, yeah. I mean, no," Faith scowled at him. "I mean... Xander kinda asked me if I'd noticed anything weird about them, and pointed me at Oz and Tamara and then wandered off on his own to do something. Kinda without saying much. And Oz couldn't say much because Willow was hanging on him, y'know?"

"I see," Giles said, nodding. "And you believe that Xander should have brought you deeper into his confidence on this, rather than hinting at it."

"Well, yeah," Faith said. Her scowl deepened, "He knows Cordy's my friend, and I thought we were, like, buds too." She glanced away, feeling uncomfortable.

Giles replaced his glasses. After a moment, he said, "Your feelings were hurt and you decided you were being excluded."

Glancing sharply at him, Faith snorted, saying, "It does sound kinda stupid when you put it like that, huh?"

"Not really," Giles said. "While I can't begin to pretend to know all of the circumstances, I am aware that the three of you bonded together rather tightly under difficult circumstances. And you've spent a considerable amount of time in close company with each other, until recently. It stands to reason that you'd expect that bond to continue with a similar closeness."

"So I have a right to be pissed off," Faith stated.

"Well," Giles paused, shaking his head. "Keep in mind here that I'm _certainly_ no expert on interpersonal dynamics," he said, holding his hand up warningly. "I would say that you have the right, but you might wish to consider whether it's warranted."

Faith confined her response to a raised eyebrow and an inquisitive look.

Smiling slightly, Giles elaborated. "I've known these children for quite some time now, often while under difficult and stressful circumstances. And yet in a lot of ways, I'm only now beginning to realize that I _don't_ know them very well at all. However... " he paused, "While I have some regard for young Mister Harris, I _have_ noticed that he often has trouble articulating things when he has concerns over those close to him. Especially if he has things he feels a need to work out on his own."

Faith considered that for awhile. "So... " she said slowly, "You think maybe he was so wrapped up in being worried over what was going on he forgot that other people might get worried."

"Perhaps. And it may be that he merely hadn't slowed down enough to consider nor be able to fill you in completely yet." Giving her a direct look, Giles said, "Occasionally people _do_ get too wrapped up in their own concerns - and fears - to realize how their actions seem from the outside. And, sometimes in order to be a friend, or a partner, it is necessary to put aside one's _own_ feelings while attempting to understand that it's a difficult process for others as well. You might try _asking_ Xander what he was thinking and reminding him that it _is_ a partnership."

"Just like that, huh?" Faith shook her head.

"Well," glancing down at the table edge, Giles suggested, "You _might_ wish to refrain from getting a good grip on him in the process."

**................................................**

_**Wednesday September 16, 1998; Sunnydale High School cafeteria, near-Noonish.**_

School lunch was rarely akin to the other tinfoil-on-open-cavity experiences that made up what passed for Xander's academic life, even back when he regularly used to have to eat with one eye peeled for belligerent jocks and O'Toole clones. But today, he would have preferred an actual teeth pulling to what he was experiencing right now.

It wasn't that he minded public displays of affection. However, Cordelia nestling underneath his arm with her eyes closed and having her completely ignoring her surroundings with shyly downcast eyes was new on a wholly and fundamentally disturbing level. That and she kept nuzzling him. The words 'nuzzle', 'Cordelia Chase', 'shyly downcast', and 'public' being associated had blown him from quietly concerned to quietly mind boggled. A love affair with Cordelia Chase was more a matter of affectionate - and _not_ so affectionate - insults, the odd swat on the chest, and being yanked into broom closets for frantic, steaming, private make out/mutual groping sessions - public displays were either teasingly aloof, or blatantly and challengingly _not_-shy maulings. This was like sitting next to Cordelia's spooky twin from the nunnery. She was a little more animated than in third period, but not by much - responding only to direct questions with short and chirpy responses, then huddling back into herself again.

And Cordelia was far from the worst of things.

Xander had never seen Aura quite this bouncy before, even on the previous day. Her head was jerking back and forth as she eagerly rambled on a mile a minute. Meanwhile, Willow was literally nowhere to be found and neither was Oz. She'd dragged him away even before eating a single bite.

"So," Tamara said, watching as Aura pinned down a slightly terrified looking Stacey with her avalanche of a monologue. "Are you seeing what I'm seeing?" Michael leaned back in his chair from them, a decidedly disconcerted expression on his face.

"You mean like a mass break from sanity?" Xander asked. His attempts to get even a slight rise out of his girlfriend seemed to have no effect, so far. He sighed as Cordelia nuzzled his throat again. A response of sorts, but not even close to a verbal one, much less Cordelia's normal, spirited sarcasm. Favoring Tamara with a deadpan expression, he gave her his best bland look and said, "Nope."

Tamara stared at him for a long moment, then her eyes widened and she burst out laughing. "Ok, I _guess_ I asked for that one, Dweeb."

"Shortest distance between two reactions is a straight line," Xander agreed. Glancing down at Cordelia, he shook his head. "Me, I'm thinking the pods in everyone's basement ripened and we're hosting dopple-students."

"That's a surprisingly plausible theory, all things considered" Tamara said, her eyes flickering to Cordy. Cordelia shot her a slightly wounded look, her eyes just as quickly flickering away.

Xander's eyebrows went up. "A Cordette that's actually heard of 'Attack of the Body Snatchers'?"

"Don't tell anyone. I have a reputation to maintain," Tamara said, her gaze flickering from Cordy to the nearly vibrating in place Aura. "Lame-o sci-fi movies aside, have any real theories?"

"Well, you know how the flu has strange effects on people," Xander offered in a less than convincing voice, even to his own ears.

"Yeah," Tamara said, nodding seriously while everything about her body language screamed the opposite.

He had never been so glad for lunch to end. When the bell rang, he attempted to spring up with a smile that even he felt had to look pasted on.

"Where are you going?" Cordelia asked quietly, her hands clutching his leather jacket tightly.

"Um, gotta go see Giles," Xander offered, feeling his already weak smile grow even more strained. "You know, that extra study project Oz and I've been working on?"

"_Why_ do you have to go?" Cordelia chirped, pouting at him. Xander carefully ran a soothing hand through her hair, giving her a soft kiss on the cheek, and reluctantly she let him go. "Fine. Have a good time." She adjusted his jacket and stepped away, her eyes downcast.

"Oh don't worry," Xander replied, pushing himself to his feet just a tad too quickly. She watched him go with a lazy blink as he scooted out of the cafeteria. He was so worried about figuring out just what the heck had happened with Oz and Willow that he almost jumped out of his jacket when he felt a sharp tug to his sleeve. Pulling up short he turned around to see Tamara looking at him with her hands on her hips and her head cocked to the side.

"All right," Tamara said flatly. "Spill."

"Did I?" Xander asked with a nervous laugh. "You know me, always the klutz."

"Right." Xander marveled at how that Caribbean accent could even make sarcasm sound musical. "No more bullshit from you, Harris," Tamara shot back. Her eyes narrowed, "_Something's_ going on here and I can tell from your very pathetic attempt to hide your panic that you might know what it is."

"Look Tamara," Xander said. He spread his hands in a helpless gesture. "I have _no_ idea what's going on. For real. God's honest truth."

She gave him a hard look, then studied him carefully as he hunched into his jacket under the scrutiny. "If I find out that you got them into coke or meth or something, I'm going to give you the beating of your life." She tilted her head appraisingly, "Even if I have to hire it done."

Xander stared at her wide eyed, his mind spinning off the tracks. _His_ thoughts, so far away from a mundane problem like cocaine, suddenly seized up and locked, whirling in tiny circles. The only thing he could do was boggle at her and burst into incredulous laughter. He thumped back against one of the lunchroom pillars, holding his stomach and giggling until tears started rolling down his cheeks. The expression on Tamara's face only set him off harder.

Finally, he ground to a halt, straightening up slowly an wiping his eyes. Tamara's glare almost set him off again, but he managed to veer away from the edge. Best to not go there - you might not ever stop this time. A vision of an endlessly cackling Xander being hauled off in a straight jacket sobered him.

"Oh man," he said with a shake of his head. He thought of Faith finding out that he'd drugged up the girls and winced. "I'm sorry, Tam. I just couldn't help that."

"Ok," she said, slowly. "I guess that's an answer to that."

"Trust me, if drugs were involved, I'd probably already have my head beaten in," he felt himself blanch as a mental image of just what Giles would do if he thought Xander and the Scoobies were involved in narcotics. So very much not of the pretty... Xander felt a full body shudder go over him.

Watching him carefully, Tamara relaxed slightly on seeing his reaction, and nodded. Xander spread his hands, giving her an earnest look that wasn't in the least bit faked. "Look, Tamara, I'd love to tell you that I know what's going on. I'd love to tell you that I know what to do about it." Giving her a direct look, he said, "_I'd_ even love to be able to _lie_ to you about it. Truth is? I have zero idea-age what exactly's going on. Hence me hurrying out of here. I've got some things to check on. But _believe_ me when I say I'm just as worried as you."

"All right, Xan," she nodded. "Just remember, you're on notice: I want to know what's up with my friends." Nodding abruptly, Xander gave her a helpless look and turned toward the cafeteria exits, hunching into his jacket. Tamara watched him go, looking somewhat mollified, but her dark eyes were no less suspicious. Xander filed it away in his ever growing 'deal with later' list, sighing inside. It _had_ been nice to almost have a social life for a week or so. Right now he couldn't even afford to worry about it. Pushing through the cafeteria doors, he nearly ran into Oz coming the other way. Oz looked disheveled, his coat slightly askew. Their eyes met, conveying the deep unease now flowing through both of them.

"So," Xander said conversationally. "Really, really big trouble?"

"Yup," Oz said.

"Willow?"

"Spooky." Oz jerked his head towards the cafeteria. "Ducked this way while she went in through the Quad after me."

"So... how big are we talking here?" Xander gave him a worried look. "On the Giles scale of 'Oh my" to 'Dear Lord'?"

Rising up on the balls of his feet, Oz looked in through the windows into the lunchroom, then shook his head while looking thoughtful. "You have no idea," he replied.

"Oh - " Xander started, and Oz cut him off with a sharp gesture and a head shake.

"No. I mean _no_ idea," Oz reiterated.

His eyebrows rising, Xander turned and looked in the door windows himself. His jaw fell slightly open. "Food fight?"

"Seems like," Oz agreed.

"Willow's got a good throwing arm," Xander remarked. "She always was good at softball."

Xander and Oz stepped to the sides quickly as Stacey, Michael, and Tamara came backing out through the doors, arms crossed protectively in front of them. Tamara peeled a limp lettuce leaf off of her blouse with a wry expression. "Might wanna get checking fast, Harris," she remarked.

***********************************************


	8. Chapter 7: Last Night I Dressed All Up

**Chapter 7: ****Why, ****Last Night I Dressed All Up In Tails (Pretended I was on the town) -**

_**Wednesday September 16, 1998; Sunnydale High School Library, 12:30 P.M.**_

Squaring his shoulders slightly before pushing open the main door, Jonathan entered the library feeling ridiculously a bit like Gary Cooper heading out to face his doom in "High Noon". He did his best to shake the feeling off as he looked around. Spotting Faith and Mr. Giles sitting and talking animatedly across a pile of books at the back corner table, he swallowed hard and headed over to them.

Faith grinned up at him as he came up to the table, Mr. Giles leaning back in his chair and fixing him with a bemused look over the tops of his glasses. Shifting nervously, Jonathan extended a sheet of paper to the librarian, stating, "Uh, here's my afternoon free period and study hall schedule, Mr. Giles."

Taking it and glancing over it curiously, Mr. Giles nodded. "Excellent, Mr. Levinson. Thank you," he remarked. "Shouldn't you still be at lunch at the moment?"

"I, uh, finished lunch early and came over," Jonathan said, shrugging. _'Thought I might as well get this over with,'_ he thought. Glancing over the table curiously, he hastily averted his gaze on recognizing a number of magic tomes and demonic references among the piles.

"Cool," Faith said. "Notice anything bizarre in the cafeteria?"

"No?" Jonathan shook his head, feeling like he must have a permanent 'deer in the headlights' expression by now. "I, uh, ate out in the quad today." Since Lance and Freddy were still avoiding him after last week's debacle, he hadn't felt like braving the lunchroom crowds to eat sitting alone in there.

Giles nodded distractedly. Glancing at the table, he stood smoothly from his chair. "Why don't we retire to a different table for the nonce," he suggested. "One more suited to laying out schoolwork, as it were." Picking up a folder near his seat, he led the way to an empty, nearby table and took a seat. Jonathan sat down across from him, shifting his chair fractionally back farther away from the librarian after a moments consideration.

Faith pulled her chair next to his and sprawled into it with a kind of lazy grace, her leg pressing up against Jonathan's. Stifling an embarrassing urge to squeak, Jonathan shrank a bit to one side in his chair, moving his leg hastily. Glancing over, Faith favored him with a slight frown.

"Relax, Jon. I'm not gonna bite," she stated.

"I know," Jonathan felt his head bob nervously. A flush crept up from his collar, making his ears feel hot.

"Seriously, guy," the corners of Faith's lips quirked up in to a smile, her dimples making her look several years younger, suddenly. "We took care of our issues the other day - far as I'm concerned, we're cool again."

"Cool," Jonathan let himself relax a bit, matching her smile almost involuntarily.

After studying Jonathan's schedule notes for a few moments, Giles nodded. "Excellent. We'll have to make certain the extracurricular activity here doesn't interfere with your studies, but I can speak to your Guidance Counselor and quite probably gain you an extra credit mark for tutoring." Opening the folder, he passed copies of several typed sheets of paper over to Jonathan, Faith leaning in closely next to him as Jonathan looked them over.

"Really? Uh, cool," Jonathan said, reading over the papers while trying - unsuccessfully - to ignore Faith's warmth pressing into his arm..

"Those are Faith's aptitude and placement scores you have there," Giles explained. "We should be able to design a course study to get her up to speed in certain areas based upon those."

"And there goes what was left of my life," Faith joked. "Not that I _had_ a life, but I was kind of hoping to get one, y'know?"

Giles reached up to adjust his glasses, giving her an indulgent look. "You're a student, Faith. You're not _expected_ to have a life until after graduation," he said, dryly.

"Gee, thanks ever so, Cousin G," Faith smirked. "_Nice_ to know you have my best interests at heart."

With a slight wince, Giles folded his arms, remarking, "I think I would almost prefer 'Jeeves' or 'Alfred' to this new moniker, thank you." Faith laughed, sticking her tongue out at him.

"Uh huh," Jonathan said in a distracted tone. "Not bad... " glancing over at Faith, he found her coffee colored eyes way too close to his and edged back. "Uh, were you a good student?"

"Well, considering I dropped out in ninth grade, I'm gonna have to go with 'no'," Faith said, shaking her head. "School was boring."

"Well, uh, you seem to have a fair grasp of math and decent reading and comp," Jonathan said. "And ok history scores... "

"Liked history," Faith said, shrugging. "It's the lit stuff, memorizing dates, and remembering all the science crap I wasn't keen on." With a small grin, she added, "I'm not like, real studious or nuthin', though."

"Nonsense, Faith," Giles said, removing his glasses to pinch the bridge of his nose, "I've noticed that you do quite well with topics you find inter- " The end of lunch bell rang, interrupting Giles and causing a mass exodus of the handful of students at the front library tables. Glancing at the wall clock, Giles returned his attention to Jonathan and Faith. "With Willow assisting in computers and the sciences, and myself working with Faith on the literary and cultural studies," he said, "I believe that your assistance might best be utilized in the areas of mathematics and economics, Mr. Levinson."

"Jonathan," Jonathan remarked in an abstracted tone. Leaning back in his chair, he looked up from the papers to glance across at the librarian. "Sure, I can do that," he said, nodding. "If there's copies of the tests in there," he pointed to the folder, "I can figure out where it'd be easiest to start?"

"By all means," Giles said, gesturing to the folder. The main doors swinging open interrupted them again, all three looking up and over as Oz and Xander entered through them. Conversing quietly with somewhat agitated gestures, the two headed directly for the back tables.

"Hey guys," Faith called out.

"Guys," Xander returned, nodding. Smirking, he took in Faith leaning against Jonathan's shoulder and arm, adding, "Watch it, Jonno. I hear Scott's got a _vicious_ jealous streak." Jonathan flushed and hastily moved his chair a few inches away from Faith's, causing Faith to straighten up while laughing.

"Quit that, Xan," Faith aimed a finger at him. "No terrorizing the Jonathan. He's spooked enough."

"Yes'm," Xander bobbed his head, grinning. Catching Giles' eyes, Oz inclined his head towards the other table, indicating with his eyes a desire to migrate the conversation over.

"Quite," Giles said, putting his glasses back on. "If you would excuse us, Jonathan, we shall retire back to the other table for the nonce. Please, make best use of the materials there as you need to." Rising along with Faith, he gestured the two boys to the research table.

**................................................**

As they settled in at the research table, Oz gestured to the assorted books and notes. "Anything useful?"

"Well," Giles looked thoughtful for a moment. "We believe we've tentatively identified one of the demons as a Vyasa demon from the description. We haven't yet put a name to the other, but we've found several species that are close matches to the description Willy provided."

Faith shrugged, adding, "Giles is pretty sure the one vamp's Lohse, Dacascos' main thug. No clue on the other one yet, but... " she spread her hands eloquently.

"But a vamp's a vamp," Xander finished for her. "'Cept when it's not?"

Faith smirked. "Quite," she said with a horrid imitation of Giles' accent and inflection. "Willy figures they're imported hitters from a few things they dropped here an' there. Come to clean up the 'Slayer problem'."

"Why can't the bad guys ever just send a gift coupon for a mineral bath and a nice Swedish massage?" Xander asked, plaintively. "Why do they always send thugs to clean up the Slayer?" Faith laughed softly, tossing her head.

"Hmm." Oz gave Giles a sharp look. "Tarakans?"

Giles removed his glasses, letting them dangle from his fingers as he stared at the younger man, pursing his lips. "Hmm. According to Faith, Willy made no mention of rings in his description," he mused, "However, it is a rather nasty thought."

"We never did figure out why they only sent the three, before," Oz stated.

"But, didn't we... ?" Xander started to ask, then cut off with a head shake. "No, we didn't, did we?" He slowly leaned forward until his forehead thumped softly onto the table. Lifting it a bit, he let it fall to thump again.

"Tarakans?" Faith looked between the three males, her brow creased.

"An ancient demonic order of assassins," Giles supplied. "Spike hired them to attempt to kill Buffy the first time your predecessor showed up in Sunnydale."

"Huh." Faith's frown deepened. "_Would_ come up when our strength's almost cut in half," she remarked. "Speaking of, anything new weird on that front?"

Xander straightened up, leaning back in his chair again. He and Oz exchanged looks. "Yeah, I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say we gots trouble in River City... "

"Not sure what to make of it," Oz said, "But, yeah."

"Wanna clue us in?" Faith asked, drumming her fingers on the cover of a book.

"Yes." Oz said, a faint blush creeping up from his collar. "But in the way that's more of a 'no'."

Faith leaned back, crossing her arms and regarding him with a cocked eyebrow. "Huh. Seriously?"

"Very." Oz spread his hands slightly, returning the eyebrow lift with an almost imperceptible waggle to his.

"Day-um," Faith murmured.

"It's a word for it," Oz gave her a tight nod.

"Not the good way, huh?" Faith's lips twitched.

"Scary," Oz replied, his tone carrying a mild note of reproach. Lifting the other eyebrow, Faith looked considering for a moment, then nodded.

Nonplussed, Xander and Giles stared at them. After a moment, Xander shook his head and Giles coughed, removing his glasses to begin polishing them furiously while looking away. Despite his own anxiety, Xander looked between the two, blinking.

"Ok, waitaminnit... did you just have a conversation with Oz in monosyllable?"

"Yup." Smirking, Faith winked at him. "Gotta practice the Oz-speak sometime." Her expression darkening and turning serious, she said, "Sounds like Red got a bit more than just 'frisky' and Oz had a hard time breaking loose." Oz gave her a bland look, neither confirming nor denying. "But he managed," she added, grinning. "Look, guys - when did this start up today?"

Xander and Oz exchanged looks, both sets of eyebrows drawing down. After a bit, Xander scowled, saying. "Huh. Ok, all of them seemed more or less ok this morning, right?" Oz nodded. Faith made an impatient gesture, and Xander added, "After third period, definitely. Lunch, _really_ definitely."

"Biology," Oz stated in a reflective tone of voice. "Part way through."

"Yeah... " Xander said, slowly. Raising an eyebrow, Faith made a 'go on' gesture. Xander exhaled, "Okay, Cordelia, Willow, and Aura all started acting completely off the wall again about fifteen to twenty minutes into the class. It was strange."

"Yup," Oz said. He looked over at Xander. "How was _your_ lunch?"

"Not so great," Xander said. Still scowling, he described Cordelia and Aura's behavior. "Oh - and this has got Tamara kinda wigged too. May need some serious damage controllage there once this is all over."

"I concur," Giles said, his furious polishing the only indicator of his own discomfort. "However, I'm afraid worrying about that element must take a back seat to dealing with the issues at hand, as it were. We shall have to deal with damage control when we must. For now..."

A sudden clunk drew their attention away. Faith's head whipped around with Giles' to see Jonathan half risen from his chair wearing a sheepish expression. "Sorry," he said. "Uh, I wanted Mr. Giles attention to ask him something, and I couldn't help overhearing... " then seeming to wilt underneath the pressure of Faith's and Giles gazes, the rest came out in a rush as a slightly high pitched squeak. "Is there anything I can do to help out?"

Looking a bit chagrined at forgetting Jonathan's presence behind them, Giles glanced toward the main doors with a slight frown, looking as though he were considering asking Jonathan to leave. He hesitated as Faith cleared her throat and cocked an eyebrow at him, giving him a significant look. Oz forestalled any commentary by lifting his hand slightly, drawing Jonathan's attention.

"Maybe." Lifting an eyebrow, he said, "Still have your in to the mainframe and servers?"

"Umm... " Jonathan's expression took on a trapped look as he looked to Giles, then quickly back to Oz.

"By all means, Mr. Levinson," Giles said. "Please answer the question."

"Well, yeah. Sure," Jonathan replied, fixing Giles with a 'frightened rabbit' expression.

"Cool." Oz nodded. "You're with me then." Looking expressionlessly at Giles, he nodded, "We'll see what we can dig out." Rising from his seat, he gestured Jonathan to follow him over to the library computers, immediately launching into a monosyllabic stream of technicalese that made Faith's eyes cross.

Meeting Giles slightly exasperated look with a slight shrug, Faith's lips twitched as she visibly tamped out what might have been the beginnings of a smirk. His own lips twitched into something that might have been a smile, just as quickly tamped out.

"New Scooby?" Xander asked, carefully examining a book in the demonology pile while not looking at the other two.

Giles sighed, glancing at the computer wielding pair with a look of mild distaste. "Perhaps. Provisionally," he added, "depending upon the outcome of a discussion with my Slayer and her associates regarding the advisability of bringing more individuals into our circle."

Not bothering to hide her smirk, this time, Faith winked at Xander before saying sweetly, "But gee, Cousin G, you _said_ you wanted him where we could keep an eye on him!" She fluttered her eyelashes up at Giles as he coughed and began polishing his glasses again.

"Very well, let us table that while leaving them to their... devices. Now, we _seem_ to have a disparate group of effects coupled with a rather broad variety of possibilities." With a rather ill disguised viciousness to his own milder smirk, he fixed his gaze upon Faith, adding, "I rather believe it is time for a little more 'old fashioned' research on our parts."

Faith couldn't help but let out a groan. "Great, more musty books. Just what the doctor ordered," she remarked, eyeing the stacks with a sour expression.

A snickering sound came from Xander as he studiously kept his head down over the volume he was browsing. "Be wary of baiting the Giles Beast, young Padawan, for he is wily and quick to turn on pursuers."

**................................................**

"So, soul suckers?" Xander offered, pointing at a particularly graphic depiction as he laid his book on the table in front of him. Giles and Faith both their own browsing to give it a look.

"Day-um," Faith said in elongated syllables, looking it over with a professional eye. "You'd _think_ I would have noticed if something like _that_ were wandering around town."

"I do not believe that a Thra'garsh demon would be responsible," Giles said after reading the caption for a moment. "The changes in behavior have not been universal enough, nor consistent with their effects."

"Damn it," Xander said suddenly, slamming the book shut and causing Giles to back up a bit. "This is like looking for a straw in a haystack."

"Ain't it a needle in a haystack?" Faith offered with a slightly amused grin. Her own tension was visible only in her dark eyes.

"Naw," Xander said with a dismissive gesture. "That'd be a piece of cake. How the heck can we find it if they all look alike?"

"I believe you have raised an excellent point Xander," Giles stated, looking frustrated himself. He paused for a moment after considering what he'd just said. "Much to my own surprise." Xander made a face at that, then frowned with a thoughtful expression.

"Kindershot? Kanderstat?" Xander remarked, drawing a blank look from Faith and a look of puzzlement from Giles. Spreading his hands in an uncertain gesture, Xander said, "You know: the slayer-flu? The weird demon lurking at the hospital that only Buffy could sense while she was feveredy, and we all thought she was nuts for awhile?"

A look of dawning comprehension crossed Giles face, and he nodded. "Der Kinderstot, yes. I recall now," he said. "Do continue?"

"Uh... what if we have something like that that no one can see that took up lurking around the science classrooms... ?" Xander trailed off, his tone growing uncertain. "Ok, maybe not, but... "

"Hmm." Giles said. "I don't recall ever seeing a mention of such a type of entity, but it _is_ a valid suggestion. Removing his glasses, he sighed, letting them dangle from the fingers of one hand while he rubbed at the bridge of his nose. "The problem is, there are so many varied entities capable of altering a person's behavior that locating the appropriate one becomes quite troublesome. We need some mechanism by which to identify those particulars unique to this situation."

"Been thinking on that," Faith said, leaning back from the copy of Barlowe's Terrestrial Manifestations that she'd been hunched over.

"Really?" Xander asked. "What do you have?"

"Nothing yet," Faith replied, frowning. "Just something about the way Red's been acting. It's like I've seen it before somewhere, but I just can't pin it down."

"Perhaps it would be best if we all took a respite," Giles said after a moment of silence. "If you allow yourself to relax, perhaps the memory will come more freely."

"Yeah, well," Xander said with a serious expression. "Here's to hoping."

***********************************************


	9. Chapter 8: Just So Long as I Can Dream

**Chapter 8: ****For**** Just So Long as I Can Dream (it's hard to slow this swinger down) -**

_**Wednesday September 16, 1998; Sunnydale High School main hallways 2:35 P.M.**_

Faith having finally cut out to go grab some food and hit Willy for more info, Xander and Oz had reluctantly called quits to their part of research for the moment as well, both having classes they couldn't afford to skip. The rest of the afternoon had passed in a blur for Xander - he was far too concerned over his girlfriend and Willow to really concentrate on 6th period Lit. The end of day bell finally clanged, releasing him from Literature hell into the wider world of Sunnydale High.

Not much of an improvement. Xander Harris had managed to work himself up into a monumentally bad mood compounded by near panicked concern.

Pushing through the students milling around after last bell, Xander caught sight of Tamara near the doors leading to the lunchroom and Quad. Changing angle, he headed to where she stood talking with Larry and Blayne.

"Hey, Tam?" Xander came to a stop, nodding to Larry as he slipped in next to the Cordette. Greeting him with a dark look, she relaxed on noting Larry's puzzled expression at her reaction. At least she was still being publicly civil to him, Xander reflected. "Seen Cordy?"

"Hey, Xan," Tamara shook her head. "You missed her - her and Aura said they were heading home straight after last period."

"Huh." Frowning, Xander said, "Willow said something like that to Amy, too. They still seem 'off' to you?"

The black girl nodded, her expression serious. "Yeah. Did say they'd meet us guys up at the Bronze later tonight, though."

"Having woman troubles, Harris?" Blayne asked in a mock sympathetic tone. "Aww." Tamara frowned at him, rolling her eyes.

"Pay no mind to the currently girlfriend-less, Xan," Larry suggested. Putting a beefy hand on Xander's shoulder, he turned him slightly, giving him an intent look. "You're _just_ the man I've been wanting to talk to, guy. Got something to ask you about -"

Something half glimpsed during the half turn registered on Xander's brain. He tuned Larry out, concentrating to drag whatever it'd been into focus in his mind's eye. Oh, that.

"Uh, hold that thought, Lar." Xander turned back, absently shaking Larry's hand off his shoulder. Yeah, that had looked like... there. Right. A mirthless half grin slid over his lips, and he cut his eyes to Tamara briefly. "Be right back. Need to have words with someone," he remarked, striding off down the side hall.

Yup. That's the ticket. Leather motorcycle jacket, greasy outdated duck tail, and raggedy jeans. And, based off of a fast glance around, uncharacteristically alone for once. This would do nicely, Xander thought.

Grabbing a solid handful of Dickie's jacket collar with one hand while gripping the back of his belt with the other, Xander threw a manic half grin to the female junior Dickie had been talking to. Kicking the back of Dickie's knee with a toe, Xander half turned him and ran him across the hallway into the lockers on the other side, forehead first. Stepping back with him when the slightly taller teen bounced off, he shifted his grip from belt to a flailing wrist. Twisting the arm up behind the junior thug's back, he ran him forward again, planting his left forearm across Dickie's neck this time and pressing his face into the locker.

"Hi there, Dickie," Xander said, grinning maniacally next to Dickie's ear. "I understand you and Jack and your other buddy had a little talk with Cordelia last week."

"Huh? Wha? Hey - let me go, Harris, I'm warning you," Dickie snarled, wrenching futilely against the grip on his wrist.

"Really?" Rising up on his toes, Xander torqued the captive arm higher, pushing Dickie's face deeper into the metal. "You know? I don't think I heard that right."

"You're gonna be in a _world_ of hurt, Harris, once you let go," Dickie gasped out. "I mean it."

"Huh. You know something?" Xander shook his head. "I had me a whatchacallit, an apostrophe the other day. Now, Jack, _Jack_ is kinda scary, what with that psycho thing going on and all," he remarked. Easing up a bit, he slammed Dickie forward again. "You, on the other hand - you? Not so much." Snickering, he added, "Compared to a _lot_ of the things I've faced the past two years? You _really_ don't rate, Dick."

"Man... I _swear_, Jack's gonna rearrange you so bad your _kids'll_ come out scrambled, Harris," Dickie said, a slight note of panic creeping into his voice and making it come out a whine.

"Oh yeah, _about_ Jack," Xander grinned. He pulled back again and slammed Dickie forward with a clang. Giving out with a laugh that had more cackle than humor in it, he leaned forward on his toes again until his lips were next to Dickie's ear. Absently, he noted a trickle of blood coming from the taller kid's nose. "I'm thinking that fair's fair, y'know?"

"W-whatta ya mean?"

"I mean, Jack hurts _my_ friends, _especially_ my girlfriend, and I'm just gonna have to _remove_ his friends completely," Xander said, conversationally. "Walk up behind you and Parker when you're by yourself, cold cock you, and leave you tied up in the park at night with a 'free buffet' sign around your necks. _Just_ like that." Twisting harder on the trapped arm, he raised Dickie up on his toes, adding, "Tell _Jack_ that if he threatens Cordelia again, he's gonna suddenly have like _zero_ friendage, starting with you. Gettit?"

Releasing Dickie's arm and collar, Xander stepped back. When Dickie came off the locker with the expected roundhouse swing, he brought his arm up and around in one of the moves that Faith had been drilling them on, blocking and trapping the punching arm and yanking forward. _'Son of a bitch, that works,'_ he thought as he snapped his head forward to crack his forehead into Dickie's in a solid head butt. Followed by, _'And owww - that doesn't look __that__ painful on the WWF... ow!' _Damn. That was gonna bruise.

Stepping back again, he released Dickie's arm to let the thug stumble back and slump against the lockers. The sound of applause startled him suddenly back to the world around him and looked around, blinking. Larry and Blayne were bringing their hands together clapping with wide grins on their faces, with a nearby Tor and Heidi joining in with ironic expressions. A number of other students had a wide gamut of expressions running from curiosity to approval. Not far away, Tamara looked at him with wide, shocked eyes.

_**"Harris! Both of you - freeze!"**_

Oh, crap. Wincing, Xander turned in the direction of the shout, the little alarms sounding _'Troll Alert! Dive! Dive!'_ in the back of his mind. Students parting before the diminutive principal like whales before a belligerent minnow confirmed the alarm as a beaming Snyder strolled majestically to a halt near him and Dickie.

"Oooh," Snyder said. "This is like a dream come true." Turning his broad grin on Dickie, he said, "You. Detention. Two weeks."

"Hey! I didn't do nuthin'! It was all him!" Dickie protested, straightening up off of the lockers.

"Silence!" Snyder snapped. "I want to savor this moment for the rush of pure, almost physical pleasure it brings." Taking in a deep, shuddering breath, he rose on the balls of his feet, clasping his hands behind his back. "Yes... I just _love_ the smell of justifiable administrative action in the afternoon. It makes me all a quiver." Coming down off of his toes, he favored Xander with a look before turning back to Dickie. "Still here? You," he whipped a hand from behind his back, aiming a stubby forefinger at the school hood. "Detention. Now. Harris? My office."

"But!" Dickie drew himself up in outrage, wiping at the trickle of blood from under his nose, only to close his mouth with a sullen look when Snyder glared at him.

"Three weeks." Cocking his head, Snyder grinned like a shark. "Or would you like door number two - suspension?"

"Ahhhh." Shaking his head, Dickie slouched off in the general direction of the detention hall. Turning back after a few steps, he tossed over his shoulder, "I'm not forgetting this, Harris."

"Four weeks." Snyder snapped out. Fixing Xander with an almost paternal gaze, he said. "My office. Now."

With a sigh like a deflating tire, Xander shook his head. He threw Tamara a sour grin and an eye roll, turning to follow Snyder to the administrative offices. Ok, the day just got worse.

**................................................**

_**Wednesday September 16, 1998; E. Chestnut St., Sunnydale, mid-afternoon.**_

Frowning in concentration, Xander lined up the stencil carefully before taping it into place to start the bottom row of letters. He had been planning to get a start on things immediately after school, but his little dance with Dickie and Snyder's interruption had put the skids to that idea. Wrapped up in his self appointed task, he didn't realize he was no longer alone until Faith's sultry voice spoke almost in his ear.

"Sunnydale Historical Martial Arts Reconstruction?" She asked. Xander turned his head to see her watching him with a slight frown of puzzlement.

"Yeah," quirking a half grin, Xander went back to painting in the stenciled lettering. "Giles' idea - it gives us something to point at if any of Sunnydale's lamest starts wondering why a bunch of teenagers are wandering in and out at all hours with swords and stuff."

"Makes sense," Faith said. "What's the next line gonna be?"

"'(ARMA)' with 'Association for Renaissance Martial Arts affiliated' underneath it," Xander told her, dipping his brush again. "According to the G, the Watcher's Council has some sort of thing with them for training facilities. So if anyone checks... "

"We're legit," Faith finished. She watched quietly until he finished painting in the letters and stripped the stencil away, stepping back to cock his head while giving the work a critical eye.

"Looking good, Xan," she allowed. "Cordy and the others inside?"

Making a face, Xander shook his head, crumpling the used stencil in his hand. "Just Oz a welding away at the cage. Cordy, Aura, and Will bugged home straight after school - supposed to meet us for Bronzing later."

"Ah." Faith nodded, biting her lower lip. Her eyes worried, she nodded. "Um, might not be the best time, but... " she trailed off as Xander gave her a curious look. Taking a deep breath, she said, "I'm kinda pissed at you."

"Huh?" Xander blinked, his face going blank while he tried frantically to recall what he might have done to make Faith mad at him.

"You know," Faith pushed her hair back from her face, then rested her forearms on her knees. "Kinda thought we were partners. And buds, guy."

"Uh, we are? I mean, we _are_."

"Right." She cocked her head, giving him an indecipherable look. "You kinda walked off on me and left me in the dark on all this stuff going on with Cordy and Red last night. Had to get tidbits from Oz and Tam." Pausing, she added, "Cordy and Will are my friends too."

Closing his eyes briefly, Xander resisted an urge to lean forward and thump his head against the freshly painted window. Too easy to forget that Faith wasn't as self-contained as she liked to put forward that she was. And too easy to go back to old habits now that the three of them weren't living in each others pockets quite as much any more. He opened his eyes and gave Faith a direct look, letting out a long breath.

"Had a long talk with Amy yesterday," he said in a contemplative tone. He met Faith's raised eyebrows with one of his own. "Apologized to her for being a dick last year with the love spell thing." Quirking a rueful half grin, he added, "I'm going to have to make a habit of that - being a dick seems to be my default Xander-mode these days."

Faith laughed, her eyes softening a bit. "Long as you're good at something, it's all that counts."

"Yeah, well," Xander shrugged. Glancing away, he said softly, "We were supposed to go out to Delgados last night, and then spend some time together." Looking back, he met Faith's eyes again. "With all that weird dumping on me, and some other stuff on top of that, I guess I wasn't really thinking much."

"Guess not," Faith said.

"Sorry. Next time I'll remember," he told her. "Figuring there'll be a next time, with this being the Hellmouth and all." Faith studied him carefully for a bit, then nodded abruptly, the corners of her lips curling up.

"Works," she said. Picking up the paper bag from next to where she squatted on her heels, she held it out, "Grabbed you some extra from the Chicken Shack. Thought you and Oz might wanna eat."

"Cool," Xander took the bag from her. "I am sorry, y'know?"

Faith nodded. "No big. Wanna go help Oz weld and sidewalk supervise, since it's just gonna be us three 'til patrol?" She reached a hand down to pull him up. Once on his feet, she reached up to trace the goose egg forming on top of the scrape the lone vamp had left the other night, her eyes dark and concerned. Fingernail on bruise: pain and a hideous pleasure all at once. He shuddered. She stepped back to turn to the Shop entrance.

"You were right," Xander remarked as he fell in next to her by the door. Faith glanced up at him, her eyebrows looking a question. "I am too much into that girl to see straight any more."

Laughing, Faith slipped and arm around his waist and gave him a quick squeeze followed by a punch in the arm as she let go to push the door open. It was a lot more comforting than she probably realized.

**................................................**

_**Wednesday September 16, 1998; Los Angeles, late evening.**_

Buffy Summers was surprised to find herself whistling - off key, but cheerily - as she tossed her bundled up apron and name tag onto her sofa. Coupled with the lack of disturbing nightmares and Slayer dreams, getting bumped into by Pike and clearing away some of the bad air between them had evidently done wonders for her attitudes. She was actually starting to find herself enjoying LA again, even her crappy job at Helen's.

_'Oh well. Crappy or no, it covers the rent payage,'_ Buffy thought, _'Even if it's not ohmygods thirty-something-an-hour! oil mechanicking. Yeesh - slacker Pike makes real money. Whoda thunk it?'_ Bufy looked down at her hands and manicure, wondering if it might not just be worth it to look into possibilities of taking apart diesel engines for a living... _'Naw. But maybe. Ninties Buffy-the-Mechaniky meets Rosie-the-Rivetey has __got__ to beat out serving grabby dock worker customers for tippage.'_

A pounding at her apartment door broke off her train of thought before she worked up to the homesickness inducing part of wondering what her mom would think about having Blue-collar Buffy in the family. Frowning, she re-buttoned her blouse and headed to the front, curious and wondering if it was the apartment's Super bugging her again. It couldn't be Pike - he would be working late tonight before going to pick up his little girl, he'd said.

Stubble, a race track tout sports coat, and a pair of agonizingly blue eyes disabused her of that idea as soon as she yanked the door open, ready to give whoever it was a piece of her mind.

"Doyle," Buffy's voice was devoid of welcoming notes or happy-to-see-you-isms. He winced, turning haunted looking eyes on her as she frowned, "I _told_ you that nex- "

"Wait! Wait!" Doyle threw his hands up as he cut across her, before suddenly bringing one hand the rest of the way up and grabbing his temple as he doubled over, his eyes screwed tightly shut. "Let m- auuurrgghh!!!"

"Oh, jeez," Buffy's eyes rolled slightly and she bit at her lower lip, shifting her weight from one foot to the other indecisively. "Don't you dare die on my doorstep, idiot." Coming to a decision, she grabbed him by the belt and lapel and threw him over her shoulder, hauling him inside and dumping him unceremoniously on the couch with a thud.

"Oh, for the _bleeding_ love of Moike," Doyle gasped out, screwing the heels of his hands against his tightly closed eyes.

"Visiony thingy?" Buffy knelt down by the arm of the sofa, studying him with a worried expression. "Can I get you anything?"

"Vision. Aspirin?" He ground out, eyes still closed as he doubled over, "A-an-and pad and paper. Pen."

Nodding, Buffy stood and trotted into the kitchen for the water and some Anacin, then over to yank her note pad and a pen from her waitress apron. She poured several of the painkillers into Doyle's outstretched hand and handed him the water to gulp them down with before extending the pad and pen to him.

"Quick, write this down," Doyle blurted, his eyes opening to slits.

"_What_, I'm a _secretary_ now? Sheesh," Buffy shook her head, angrily. "Tell your 'Powers' to spring for a Girl Friday for you." Nonetheless, she jabbed the pen into the pad, scrawling down a quick description and notes as he gasped them out.

"Ah. Jay-sus buggering Christ, that hurts," Doyle remarked. "Sorry, Lord."

"A religious demon. Whoda thunkit," Buffy said, smirking.

"Hey! ow. I was raised a perfectly foine Catholic lad, I'll be having you know," Doyle said, still wincing. "No need to be being blasphemous."

"Gee. Sorry. I'm just not used to praying demons," Buffy shook her head, unable to keep a small grin off of hr lips despite her irritation. "Is that it?" She waved the pad.

"_Half_ demon," Doyle corrected. "And yeah - bunch o' kids, vampires, old building, some blocks from here. Better hurry: you don't have a long time before it happens."

Sigh. Buffy shook her head angrily again, glaring at him. Thinking rapidly, she reluctantly came to a decision. "Ok. I'll get my coat and some extra stakes. You get ready to lead me there." Standing, she glared down at him as he looked upwards, startled, "You do know how to use a stake, right?"

"Hu-wha? I _told_ you I'm no a fighter, now... " Doyle cut off as Buffy's glare intensified.

"Oh no you don't - if you're going to drag me into this, you are going to take me there and use a stake right alongside me, demon-boy," Buffy said, stalking over to her closet for Mr. Pointy and a jacket.

"Oh for the love of... I don't suppose you have any whiskey, then?" Doyle shrank back wide-eyed into the couch at Buffy's look. "I'm taking it that that's being a 'no', then?"

***********************************************


	10. Chapter 9: Don't Give a Thought to Me

**Chapter 9: ****So Please Don't Give a Thought to Me (I'm really doing fine) -**

_**Wednesday September 16, 1998; Cemetery near Breaker's Wood, night.**_

In lieu of Willow, Oz had Holy Water duty for the night, filled super-soaker linked by a hose to the backpack reservoir held ready in one hand, a short barreled Holy Water paintball gun in his left. There were a pair of stakes thrust through the back of his belt for just in case. Faith had point with her parallel crossbow, one of the katana length sharpened bokken held easily in her off hand, her eyes constantly roving through the darkness. For his own part, Xander brought up the right with an arrow air-rifle and a pair of sharpened wakasashi length bokken stuck through either side of his belt for closer in work. A paintball pistol rested in the 45 pocket in his bomber jacket as a backup. Both he and Oz had large crosses on cords around their necks, and secondaries tucked into the cargo pockets of their pants.

He was kind of happy with the cherry wood bokken - a few hours work in wood shop after school hours had made simple work of reshaping and sharpening the already chiseled points into first class vamp stakers. He had some interesting ideas for stakes if he could ever get a couple of hours free to experiment with the wood lathe and metal lathes and some of the ironwood and tulip wood scrap he'd salvaged from his summer job.

No need for the radios tonight, really, even though they all three had their ear pieces and belt units on. Not with Willow and Cordy out of things for the moment, he reflected. With just the three of them, they were keeping a fairly tight triangle formation with Faith, no more than about four yards between them. Cordy's absence from their patrol group was like a missing tooth, a void that surprised him with its intensity.

Three vamps so far. Only one of them hopped up on Dacascos's stuff, the other two barely above newbies. Kind of a slow night for the Hellmouth, thank the gods.

"So, you're thinking about losing the Zebra van," Faith was saying quietly, as they moved through the night.

"Yup." Oz's voice was equally quiet as Xander tuned back into the conversation. "Transmission is getting squirrelly, and I'm not liking the way the engine's been running."

"Not fixable?" Faith asked. "I know my way around an engine, a bit."

"Huh." After a moment's consideration, Oz replied, "I'd say yes, but since I have the extra bread from the nests?" Xander could almost see the microscopic shrug in his imagination. "Gonna have to go with trading it in on a conversion van I've had my eye on. Better for traveling to gigs."

"Works," Faith allowed. "Got us a line on a vamp nest to clear," she said after a moments pause.

"Doable?" Xander asked. His lips peeled back in a mirthless grin. Quiet, casual talk about cars and vamps, _anything_ except the subject on all of their minds. He was kind of glad he couldn't see Oz's face on the other side of Faith: didn't need to see if his worry about Cordy and Will was reflected in Oz's concern for Willow.

"Old apartment building to the beach side of the college," Faith stated. "We'll have to scout it and do recon and see."

Stopping suddenly, she held a hand up, her head coming around like a pointer to aim into the night off at an angle ahead and to one side. Oz and Xander both froze, weapons coming up. They spread out to either side of Faith as she started moving slowly forward again, Xander's eyes straining to pierce the gloom as his head attempted to quarter all directions at once.

"Whoa," came Oz's quiet exclamation from off to the left, followed shortly after by Faith remarking, '_That's_ new and different.'

Xander moved up cautiously, stepping carefully to avoid tripping on anything in the dim light. He found Faith standing almost over what appeared to be a supine skin-wrapped skeleton in a gray suit, only the teeth, yellow eyes, and game face declaring it a vamp. Fingers twitched weakly against the ground and jaws made futile snapping motions at them. Nearby, Oz crouched ready with his Holy Water guns, facing out from Faith.

Moving up quietly next to Faith, Xander ignored the weakly spasming vamp-corpse as he noticed her staring tensely out into the night, neck tendons standing out in cords. He whispered, "Something?"

After several long moments, Faith shook her head, relaxing almost imperceptibly. "Maybe," she said, slowly. "Almost thought I felt another vamp, kinda out at the edge of my senses, but not sure. Twiggy here's kinda swamping my slaydar, this close in."

She stepped back from the downed vamp, dropping to one knee to cock her head and look their find over. Xander dropped to a knee a bit away from her, giving into his curiosity as well. Pulling a mini-mag light out of his jacket pocket, he played the beam over the still moving body with a kind of surreal detachment that amazed him. It looked almost like something had sucked all the juice out of the vamp, leaving a drained and almost comatose husk behind.

"Gonna hazard a guess that's our punk vamp," Faith remarked, pointing at the purplish mohawk.

Oz nodded from the other side of the body. Taking out one of his sharpened bokken, Xander remarked, "Have to say there's something to be said for girls that just lay there." Oz made a face, and Faith gave off a harsh laugh.

"Hold up, Xan," Faith suggested. Giving her a quizzical look, Xander pulled back the stake from over the vamp's shrunken chest. "Bring that light over here," she said.

Xander moved to her other side, playing the light down as Faith put one boot on the vamp's chest, leaning her weight in on that knee as she reached down to turn the punk vampiress's head to the side. Yellow eyes burned and teeth worked impotently in jaws that seemed to have no strength to reach for her hand. A hiss like escaping air came out from between the snapping teeth.

"Huh. Looks like a vamp bite," Oz stated.

"Didn't think vamps drained other vamps," Xander said, his voice sounding puzzled to his own ears. Oz settled back on his heels, his lips pursed.

"According to Giles, they don't," Oz allowed. "Some theory about them not liking the taste of old blood." Xander nodded, not bothering to ask when Oz had made a chance to ask Giles about vamp feeding habits. He was getting used to the quiet guitarist surprising him.

"Never heard that they did either," Faith admitted. She glanced sidelong at Xander. "Shake her down and see what's on her before we dust her," Faith suggested. "I'll cover."

"Me?!?" Xander gave her an incredulous look. "Why not you and I'll cover?"

"My reflexes are faster," Faith stated, dropping her crossbow until the bolt tip was over the vamp's heart, angled in at it.

"Good point." Grimacing, Xander did a tentative but thorough frisk of the vamp's clothing and various places he'd expect to find weapons or concealed devices.

Finding a couple of lumps, he gingerly reached into the right front pocket of the suit pants and extracted an engraved money clip with a sheaf of folded bills, handing it to Faith. Giving it a quick riffle with her thumb, she lifted an eyebrow and tossed it to Oz. "Donation to the Night Watchmen Fund," she remarked.

"Accommodating."

Continuing, Xander extracted a slim, tri-fold wallet of something that looked like snake-skin, a flip cell phone, a wickedly expensive looking folding knife from the other front pocket, and a thin flask from an inside pocket, setting all of them to one side. A flat bulge under one arm turned out to be an ivory gripped knife with a wicked looking knuckle duster d-guard in a shoulder type sheath. Unbuttoning the front of the suit coat, he worked the snaps and buckles open and tugged the rig out from under the vamp's body, setting it on the pile. He removed a set of steel and wood throwing spikes from the other inside pocket and an elegantly vicious looking knife from one boot and added them, moving back.

"Seems to be everything," he said, wiping his hands on his pants legs with a disgusted expression. Faith nodded, and when she removed her foot, Xander slammed his bokken through the vamp's chest, turning his head away from the explosion of dust.

"Gonna have to make a note to tell G about this one," Faith said.

"Hrmm. One of those disposable cameras would be handy," Oz said. "Save on descriptions."

"Good idea," Xander agreed. he started going through the pile, handing Faith the slim wallet and tucking the phone and folder into a cargo pocket. Opening the flask to take a sniff, he shook his head. "Nothing but the best paint thinner for our hit-vamp," he said. "Scotch."

"Cool. Better not taste test it. You know how G gets," she remarked. Handing the wallet to Oz, she said, "Credit cards. Maybe Will can do something with them when we get her back to normal." Oz nodded, putting the wallet away to join the money clip.

"That's what I thought about the cell phone," Xander said. Drawing the knife out of the shoulder scabbard, he exposed a broad, heavy, deadly looking twelve and a half inch bowie blade.

Faith frowned looking at it, and Xander raised an eyebrow. "Nothing," she said, shaking her head. "Just something from one of Kanno's lessons." Extending a hand, she ran a finger over the long, gleaming blade, not quite touching it. "Layered steel... folded. And it's got that wavy line from clay tempering." Cocking her head, she mused, "Never saw stainless Damascus before." A broad grin sliding across her lips, she added, "Now _that's_ a thing of beauty."

"It is that," Xander agreed. Sliding it back into the sheath, he offered it to Faith along with the throwing spikes and smaller boot knife.

Waving it off, she accepted the boot knife and spikes. "Got enough steel on me. If it'll adjust big enough, put it on and carry it as a backup to that little axe you like." She tucked the spikes away and handed the boot knife to Oz, who took it with a nod.

"It's heavier than the axe," Xander admitted. He adjusted out the straps and re-snapped and re-buckled them, taking off his jacket to put on the shoulder rig. Pulling the jacket back on, he checked carefully, finding that it hid the big knife almost invisibly.

Picking up something off the ground near the dust pile, she grinned and tossed Xander a pair of Ray-Ban Wayfarer sunglasses. "Here you go, Elwood."

"Keep telling you: I'm Jake, you're Elwood," he said, tucking them into his jacket front pocket. Nodding, he stood up and dusted himself off. "Probably time to move on," he remarked.

"Yeah. Crap," Faith said, her face taking on a sudden stricken expression. At the other two's curious looks, she scowled. "Just remembered we were all supposed to go to Joyce's for dinner and movie watching tomorrow night. Gonna be hard to do if the girls are still wigged."

"Might make for an interesting dinner," Oz's voice was deadpan.

Xander heard his own voice coming from somewhere far away from himself. "If her parents made it back, I'm supposed to go to a 'meet the folks' dinner party with her on Friday."

"Get the shotgun and shovel talk from Daddy Chase?" Faith's voice had a certain ragged amusement to it. "Should be fun."

"Oh, a real blast," Xander agreed. His own still distant voice held a certain gallows amusement of its own. "They come in tonight like they're supposed to and see daughter dearest, I'll likely get the demo version."

"This is where Willow would make a joke about dating outside of your own species having rewards of its own," Oz suggested, his voice both dry, and slightly strained.

Xander's laugh cracked right down the middle and broke into a ragged noise. He leaned up against a nearby tombstone, harsh barks of laughter coming out of him that kept threatening to turn into more broken sounds.

Faith's grip on his shoulder brought him out of it, and he looked up into a pair of worried eyes, one last cackle ending on a hiccup. Xander wiped at his eyes, drawing a shuddering breath and nodding.

"We'll figure it out, Xan," she said, seriously, her eyebrows drawn together. "Got the tweed on it. 'Tween you, the Slayer mojo, and the brains there," she jerked a thumb at Oz, "We got it whipped."

Nodding, Xander pushed himself off of the headstone to his feet, checking the safety on his arrow rifle to give his hands and eyes something to do. "Yeah. Sorry - been a rough couple of days."

"Yup. And a week before that," Faith agreed. "Need another vacation from your summer vacation." Searching his face with her eyes, she evidently found something there he wasn't feeling, because her lips quirked up into a smile and she gave a decisive nod. "Still early. Let's hit the cemeteries and the industrial park between here and the Bronze, and call it a patrol. I could stand to get my dance on and wind out."

**................................................**

_**Wednesday September 16, 1998; The Bronze, night.**_

Aside from the weird, drained vamp-husk, it'd been a pretty dull patrol all in all. Three vamps and no additional sign of any of Dacascos' remaining hitters. A small pack of three vamps had been hunting the industrial park in the Bronze's area, more or less easily taken down by the three of them. The one they'd kept to interrogate hadn't coughed up any information on Dacascos' hit demons before Oz dusted it - either not knowing, or being resistant to Holy Water burns. Good thing, all in all, Faith thought. Xander was wound tight as a bowstring, and even the normally solid Oz was showing strain at the edges. She had a feeling that if the Hellmouth dumped anything more in their laps right now, they'd come apart like a dropped jigsaw puzzle.

Faith wasn't used to having to be the solid one here: it was a role that fell uncomfortably on her shoulders and made her way too aware of how screwed up she was at dealing with people. She'd much rather let Cordy and Xan handle that end and play backup to them.

Not an option here.

They found a subdued looking Cordelia at one of the corner table/booths with an animated Willow and Aura, and an uncomfortable looking Scott and Tamara waiting for them. Willow jumped up when they approached, grabbing Oz by the hand to drag him out to the dance floor. Scott got up a bit slower to pull a chair out for her as Xander slid into the booth next to Cordelia, a half grin sliding over his face like a mask. Shaking her head slightly, she snagged Scott by the hand, jerking her head towards the dance floor.

"Hey." Scott's eyes flickered to the floor and he nodded, then they bugged out a bit as they ran across her and took in the total effect an whatever else he'd been about to say choked off abruptly.

Faith grinned. Right now she was glad she'd taken the time to change out of her patrol clothes into the new lace-up red and black leather pants she'd bought and a matching leather scarf top. The laced sides exposed a two inch strip of bare skin all the way from her dress boot tops to the waist, showing off the strap to her thong, and the top left little to the imagination. She'd been aware of male and female eyes on her all the way in from the door.

She'd always enjoyed playing with the heads of both men and women. Turning heads wherever she went was both pleasure and power for her - intoxicating in a way that alcohol never managed. A kind of power that had nothing to do with 'slayerness' and was all the better for it in her opinion.

_Not_ that she had a moment's regret about being called as the Slayer, but there was something to be said for pure woman-power, too.

"Mr. Articulate," Faith said, smirking. Spreading her arms to the side before arching them over her head in a languid stretch, she could follow the motion with Scott's eyes as a reference point. "See anything you like?"

"Uh. Does 'yes' work?" Scott asked hopefully. Faith gave a throaty laugh.

"Works for me. I'm more doer than talker," Faith's smile was predatory and a bit flirtatious. Cutting her eyes sideways to Xander as she uncoiled from the stretch, she glanced at Cordelia and looked a question at him with her eyebrows. He shrugged, making a negligent wave toward the dance floor.

Scott gulped but he threw her a slightly crazed grin of his own as she led him out among the dancers. Moments later, Faith lost herself in the beat of the music; there was just something about dancing, whether with someone like Scott now, or just by herself surrounded by hopeful admirers. Combat and sex all rolled up into one, with the beat of the music pounding on her skin and pulsing through her loins. She wondered if the other Slayers, B and Kendra, had ever lost themselves like this in sound and sensation, or if this was something unique to her...

Faith snapped out of her 'dance trance' when she caught a familiar flash of red hair and clothing out of the corner of her eye. Of course, the hair, the clothes, and the movements were _completely_ at odds with what she was used to seeing.

Willow Rosenberg was currently grinding pelvises with her boyfriend. In public yet, in a display that wasn't quite up to Faith standards of exhibitionism, but way out past the edge of 'Willowness'. _'Well hot damn,'_ Faith thought to herself. The clothes really do make the woman. Sidling up next to the two of them Faith grinned and shouted above the beat, "Willow?"

Willow looked over at Faith, pulling her lips back in a matching evil grin. "Yeah?"

"You go, girl!" Faith called over. "Way to find the fun, Red."

Willow just winked at Faith and turned her attention back to a stone faced Oz. Faith shook her head, wondering. Finishing their dance as the tide swept them away from Willow and Oz, Faith and Scott worked their way off the floor and towards the group's table when the number ended, exhilarated and laughing like crazy. Out of the corner of her eyes, Faith saw Willow holding a reluctant looking Oz in place for the next number.

Her slayer alarms keyed in and working overtime now that Red had set them off, the lower energy levels of the table grated along her nerves as they neared them. Well, kind of lower. Aura was keeping the chatter going a mile a minute, her eyes fastening with a puppyish enthusiasm on whoever was talking to her at the moment. Cordelia, on the other hand, looked to be definitely under the weather. She snuggled into Xander's side, eyes down, and responding quietly whenever the conversation drew her into it, blinking shyly when it moved on. Xander, for his part, was clearly hiding agitation under his half grin and almost manic cheerfulness. He threw an almost desperate look at Scott and herself as they wandered up.

"Faith!" he called out with a wave. He looked at her companion, and his smile faltered a minuscule amount. "And Scott. Back. Together. Here. Good!"

"That was pretty monosyllabic," Scott observed as they slid into the booth on Xander's other side.

"Been that kind of a day," Xander stated, running a hand through his hair. "Hasn't it just?" Xander spoke across the table to Tamara, cutting through Aura's constant stream of low level chatter at Cordelia. Cordelia seemed to be paying attention to both, actually, and Faith noticed that Cordelia did seem aware of her surroundings. She flicked her eyes towards Faith for just a second and then back towards Aura, nodding ever so often. Huh. Not normal Cordy-mode, definitely. And the dark, almost drab blouse and long beige skirt was very much not Cordy-styled.

"Yup. Ever so much," Tamara agreed, her face set in a bland expression.

Carefully keeping a frown off of her face, Faith grinned at Cordelia and got an almost birdlike nod of recognition back before Cordelia turned her eyes down again. Shifting her gaze to Tamara, she lifted an eyebrow, getting a shrug from the darker girl.

"So," Faith said, hiding a critical once over of Cordelia behind a grin. "How's things?"

"Fine," Cordelia said, turning her attention back to the drink in front of her. "How about you?"

"Can't complain," Faith said, leaning back and putting her hands behind her head with a devilish smile. "Life is good: Music, hot dancing, somebody to get me drinks. What more can a gal want?"

Cordelia shrugged. Xander looked over to Faith, making a hopeless gesture. Faith drummed her fingers on the table top, nodding back fractionally.

Turning back to Scott, she let a smirk slide over her lips, asking over the music, "Hey, Scott - mind grabbing us some drinks?"

"Ooh! Yeah," Aura wriggled in her seat eagerly. "Let's go powder our noses while he's doing that, huh Cordy? Tam?" She bounced up, almost vibrating in place.

"Naw." Tamara shook her head, giving Xander a surreptitious and oddly suspicious look. "I'm good. You two go on."

Scott took in Xander's fake grin, Cordelia's downcast eyes as she stood, and Aura's... oddness, and gave a nod, his expression cheerfully bland. "Sure thing. Be right back, if I can survive the bar crowd." Leaning over, he put his lips next to Faith's ear and asked, "Uh, what's going on?"

Faith turned her head, whispering back into his, "Dunno. I'll clue you in if I can once I catch one." Scott gave an unusually perceptive nod and slid out of the booth, his eyes on Aura and Cordelia as he made his way after them.

"Speaking of that kind of a day," Tamara said, sipping at her drink, "What'd Snyder have to say?"

"Snyder?" Faith cut her eyes to Xander, asking, "Principal Troll? What'd he want with you?"

"The very same," Xander agreed, dryly. "I, uh... " Xander shrugged, his half grin becoming even more plastic, "Had a hallway discussion with a guy that got out of hand."

"Hah! That's one word for it," Tamara said, laughing. She looked at Faith, shaking her head. "He beat the living crap out of one of O'Toole's buddies and warned him off of Cordelia."

Both of Faith's eyebrows shot up and she stared at Xander. "I see Cordy, Will, and Aura aren't the only ones acting 'off'," she remarked.

"Well," Xander spread his hands, the other side of his mouth twitching up. "It wasn't exactly 'the crap out of'. More like a 'caught him off guard' locker pinning against." He snorted, "Dickie'd probably have beaten me to death if Snyder hadn't rescued me."

"Right," Tamara agreed. "What with that whole judo/WWF thing you had going on him."

Faith's eyebrows went up a notch higher, her expression adding 'We are _so_ going to talk, guy', as she asked, "So give. What'd the troll say?"

"Uh... other than 'my office, now'?" Xander shrugged. "Swim team tryouts start on February first. Meet the newest swim team member. It'll keep me out of trouble and 'help me to contribute to the school rather than disrupting it'."

Tamara's lips twitched up in unison with Faith's. "Ah. A Xander speedo action reprise," Tamara said. "Harsh." Faith laughed, shaking her head.

Xander rolled his eyes, turning his head to the dance floor with a put upon expression. Faith crossed her arms under her chest as Scott returned with the drinks. Xander was right: something really was off here. Judging by the prickling sensations traveling down her spine, it wasn't just some flu going around. Not unless the it was the kind of flu that set off Slayer senses. God, wouldn't _that_ just suck.

"Hey," Xander said, interrupting Tamara's commentary with a raised hand. He looked over at Scott with a grin, throwing put a friendly arm around Faith's shoulder. "Mind if I borrow the girl-toy for a bit?"

Scott threw a glance at the dance floor. "I wouldn't be worried about me," he said with a laugh. Xander grinned back at him.

"Well you know me," Xander said. He got up, sliding his arm away as he slid out of the booth. "The world's bravest coward."

Faith said nothing, but raised an eyebrow as a slight warning squeeze stilled her comments before the arm went away. "Alright Xan-man, let's go."

The two of them headed for the top floor of the Bronze, Xander leading the way. He leaned on the railing, ignoring the milling crowds, and looked down at the club. Folding his arms across his chest, he turned his head to Faith as she leaned in next to him. Both of their eyes tracked Aura and Cordelia coming back from the powder room.

"So," he said casually. "Notice anything weird there?"

"Oh yeah," Faith said with a dark frown. "But I don't know what it is any more than you or Oz do." Her scowl deepened, "It doesn't... doesn't feel like anything that I've ever run into before, you know? Getting the Slayer tinglies and something's off, yeah, but I can't tell ya more than that."

Xander gave her a sharp look, cutting his eyes sideways. "It set off your slaydar?" His voice was deceptively casual.

"Huh. Yeah," Faith said, nodding slowly. "Remember when I said you registered the other night, a bit like Tor and Heidi, or Wolfy? Like that a bit, but right along the edge of my senses." She shrugged, "Might not even have noticed if I wasn't watching for it."

"Great. And again, I could have gone all week without hearing that," Xander sighed. "Not even one week without a break. No rest for the wicked."

"Speaking of wicked," Faith said in an almost awed tone of voice. "Take a look at _Red_."

Xander looked out onto the dance area where Willow was bent over before Oz, thrusting her hips back at him. He turned an interesting shade of red for a brief moment, spluttering. "Alright, _so_ not cool. Ground rules for life? No traumatizing 'Willow having sex while standing up' moments please, Faith. Starting five minutes ago."

"Just pointing it out," Faith said. She shrugged and looked away from the floor. "So, whaddya want to do about it?"

"God," Xander said with a shake of his head. "I wish I knew. For now, how about we just stick to meeting with everyone we think _isn't_ going crazy?"

"Oh," Faith said with a sour laugh. "Great. Who does that leave? Because we are _so_ disqualified."

The current song ended, and they watched as Oz broke away from a pouting Willow as she tried to convince him to go another round. He pointed in the direction of the restrooms, shaking his head, and she nodded, bouncing off in the direction of the tables. Oz watcher her go for a second, then veered to the stairs as he hit the edge of the dance floor.

"Um," Xander said with a considering tone. "Giles?"

"I guess Jeeves will have to do," Faith stated, watching Oz head towards them. "Of course, using tweed to measure how not-crazy someone is may not be the best way to go, Xan." She nodded as Oz slid up to the rail next to Xander.

"Conference?" Oz asked, pitching his voice just over the music.

"Council of war," Faith said, nodding.

"Strategy?" Oz gave both of them what passed for a slightly desperate look for him.

"Well... " Xander said slowly, looking down at the table. "We kinda thought of swinging by Giles place to fill him in, and calling a morning research meeting." He glanced over at the guitarist, "Might have to skip periods one and two for it."

"I'm in," Oz said. He pursed his lips thoughtfully. "Not biology, though."

"Nooo... " Xander agreed, nodding. "I'm wanting to see what happens there, myself."

"You know," Faith remarked, "More than ever I'm thinking I've seen Willow's behavior somewhere. Like, on Discovery or something."

"Presenting," Oz stated. At Faith's raised eyebrow, he added. "I saw that special too."

"Let's head down and ease everyone towards the door so we can make our excuses," Faith suggested. She pushed her hair back from her face as she stood. "I _hate_ early wakeup calls."

***********************************************


	11. Chapter 10: Just Smoking Cigarettes and

**Chapter 10: ****Just Smoking Cigarettes and Watching Captain Kangaroo ****-**

_**Thursday September 17, 1998; Sunnydale High School Library, early morning.**_

"Okay," Xander said. He let out a breath and looked at the assembled group. "So, you guys convinced that we're not crazy now?"

"_I_ didn't _need_ any more convincing," Faith protested, yawning. "Hell, even Scott and Tamara noticed _something_ was off." She yawned again, rubbing her eyes. She'd taken Giles up on the offer of his spare bed for the night when Oz and Xander had taken off.

Judging by the circles under her eyes, Xander figured the unfamiliar room had had her tossing and turning too much to sleep easily or well. Or maybe worry. Or any number of things - he hadn't slept too horribly good himself. Yet another pre-bed 'discussion' with his old man over his late night hours hadn't helped much. Oz didn't look well rested either, making three of them.

Unlike yesterday morning, the oddness of the three girl's behaviors hadn't worn off quite as noticeably overnight. Willow's voice was still high pitched and over excited, and she still had a disturbing tendency to pick at the clothing and hair of whoever was near her. Also a tendency to be overly physically affectionate to Oz, and, disturbingly, to Xander. Cordelia's wardrobe had gotten even browner, and she was still quiet and downcast looking, chirping responses only when someone spoke directly to her. And Aura still had a playful eagerness that grated on the nerves, and a tendency to respond with wounded looks to even the slightest hint of criticism.

Not much convincing had been needed for anyone. Giles had just finished drawing out all of the details of everything they could remember since Monday, probing for even the tiniest of tidbits. Oz had filled in gaps, but he understandably wasn't entirely forthcoming with _everything_ that had passed between him and Willow. Xander had had to stifle a grin despite his worry at the frenzy of glasses polishing the details Oz _had_ volunteered had gotten from Giles. Xander dug a chocolate cream out of the boxes of donuts that Oz had thoughtfully stopped off for on his way to school, passing a bearclaw to Faith and a jelly to Giles at their requests. Now forty minutes into the early morning library meeting, they lapsed into a baffled silence while they snacked and drank coffee.

"Yeah," Oz said. "Major behavior modification here."

"I was _convinced_ last night when the three of you showed up on my doorstep in a state of agitation, Xander," Giles remarked. "However, conviction _still_ hasn't led me any closer towards unraveling the mystery." Xander figured he probably imagined the note of exasperation in Giles' voice, and in his look. Probably.

"So - what _could_ be doing this?" Xander asked, looking hopefully over to Giles. The librarian moved around the table, pulling out several different volumes and flipping through the pages before discarding them with a baffled expression.

"Honestly, Xander, I do not know precisely where to begin looking," Giles said after a moment. He paused, frowning as he gathered his thoughts. "Let me make certain I'm clear on all of this. It has become evident that there've been changes in the behaviors of numerous of your classmates, some your friends, some not. Indeed, Willow and Cordelia's continued absence from the library the past two days alone is evidence of some change." Adjusting his glasses, he gazed into the stacks for a moment, then asked, "_Precisely_ when did you first notice the odd behaviors?"

"Yesterday," Oz said at the same time that Xander said, "Lunch." They met each other's eyes and made identical 'after you' gestures.

"Huh." Faith's thoughtful voice drew Xander's eyes to her. "Anyone seen Harmony since Monday?"

"Uhh... why?" Xander frowned, a bit thrown by the apparent change of subject.

"She seemed kinda off when she pushed past me, Red, and Cordy heading down the stairs," Faith said, her eyebrows drawing together. "Kinda repeated back Cordy's snipe at her several times and flounced off without even looking back at us. No trailing herd of sheep, either."

"Huh." Oz snagged a glaze out of the open donut box, frowning. "No classes with her, but I haven't bumped into her any."

"Could ask Tamara? Or maybe Amy," Xander said, shrugging. "I think they have some classes with her."

"Hrmm." Removing his glasses, Giles let them dangle from his fingers for a moment, tapping his fingers against one leg. "Do any of your male acquaintances seem to be affected?"

Oz's gaze went distant for a moment, then he shook his head. "Haven't noticed." Xander shook his head after a moment as well.

"Don't think so," he said.

"Another data point," Giles said. "Apparently, it would seem to be only females affected, so far as we know. We need a commonality to work from," he added. At Xander and Faith's questioning looks, he elaborated, "A common point where the effect could have originated."

"Ah." Xander frowned, trying to put aside the edge of gibbering panic so he could concentrate. He couldn't lose Willow and Cordy to the Hellmouth as he had Jesse. He just _couldn't_. "Ok. Lunch. No... earlier: first time I really noticed something weird was with Heidi in... "

"... biology class," Oz finished. The two of them shared a look.

"Heidi?" Giles frowned, apparently trying to place the name.

"Hyena thing? One of the kids that ate Flutie?" Faith made a face, and Xander shook his head, unable to resist a small grin. Not every day you can gross out Faith.

"Ah." Giles definitely had a disturbed expression at that, Xander noticed. "Good lord - all of them are _still_ enrolled here?"

"Just Tor and Heidi," Oz supplied. "Think Kyle and Rhonda moved away or dropped out." He met Xander's questioning look with a slight shrug, "Willow told me about it."

"Hrrm." Giles said. "Was this Heidi affected as well?"

"Not so much," Xander made a vague gesture, shoving his hands in his pockets. "She said that something set her nerves on edge in class and got her antsy." Oz nodded thoughtfully. Faith's eyebrows shot up, and she mouthed, 'See a man about a dog?' at him.

"You've spoken with her, then?" Giles regarded Xander in a way that suggested his eyebrows would shoot up if he weren't English and reserved. Xander sighed and related the conversations he'd had with the two Pack members, or at least the pertinent parts of them. _Both_ Giles' and Faith's looks suggested he was in for long talks at some point.

"Definitely after biology," Xander said, moving the topic back. He nodded firmly. "I didn't notice anything like it at the start of class. Cordy was just as sarcastic as usual."

"Queen of the Ice Bitches?" Faith offered, snickering. Xander laughed, shaking his head.

"Got it in one," Xander said. "After she was like... dunno. Wallflower girl or something. Aura was fawny, bouncy, and wriggling. And Willow was -"

"Extremely un-Willowish," Oz stated, his voice deadly serious. Xander's eyebrows drew down in surprise. That was the first time he could remember Oz ever interrupting someone. Oz shrugged, "Something set me on edge in class, too."

"And the biology class was the unifying factor?" Giles said. Both boys exchanged looks, and Xander nodded. "Hmm. Makoteo Hideyoshi is a new replacement teacher," he mused. "I've spoken to him in the teacher's lounge. He seems quite erudite and personable."

"Personable?" Xander shook his head. "You haven't seen him with students, I guess." Oz opened his laptop, plugging it into one of the library telephone jacks to access the school's server and 'net connections. He began typing rapidly at the keyboard.

"Huh. Oz called it on the 'presenting' thing from that Discovery program," Faith said in thoughtful voice. "Aura's kinda puppy-like. Harmony repeating things... like a parrot?" She frowned, "Not sure what to make of Cordy."

"Some kinda animal possession?" Xander looked at Giles. Giles removed a cloth from his inside pocket and began to polish his glasses, looking thoughtful.

"Possibly," he said. "But unlike the previous incident, there doesn't seem to be common behaviors between the affected girls."

"Could the drained vamp have any like, connection?" Faith asked.

Giles spread his hands, exchanging slightly baffled looks with her, "At this point, it cannot be ruled out even if we _can't_ see an immediate connection." Faith nodded, her lips turning down at the corners.

"Hideyoshi's a transfer from some school out in Iowa?" Oz asked.

"I believe so, yes," Giles remarked. Oz nodded and went back to browsing.

"Ok, here we go," he said after several minutes. "Transferred here from Theodore Roosevelt High School, Des Moines, Iowa according to school records." Pursing his lips, he said, "Let's see what the 'net and the Iowa Department of Education has on him."

"Thought you weren't into hacking databases?" Xander asked. Oz turned a bland expression on him.

"Special circumstances," Oz said, dryly. "Usually leave the phracking to Willow." Xander nodded, wincing and holding his hands up in an apologetic gesture. Turning back to the computer screen, Oz stated, "Give me some time. I'll dig into anything I can find on where he's been and things that have happened there."

"Good," Giles said. "The more information we have, the better able we will be to figure out what might be at the roots of this."

"Got an address for him?" Faith asked, moving to lean over Oz's shoulder. She peered at Hideyoshi's photograph in the school records. "Hm. Older dude. Not bad looking."

"Got it here," Oz said, scrolling down through the transcript. He pulled over a notebook, jotting it down and tearing it off to hand to Faith.

"Thanks," Faith said, tucking the paper in the back pocket of her jeans. "Kinda thin, but it's a place to start. How about I go and check up on our favorite teach's digs? See what I can find?"

"Reconnaissance might be useful," Giles said, nodding. "We're unable to either pinpoint Mr. Hideyoshi as a cause nor rule him out without additional information." Replacing his glasses, he regarded Faith over the tops with a stern expression. "_Do_ be careful, please. Considering that we don't know what we're dealing with at the moment, it would be best to exercise caution." Giving her a tight smile, he added, "It would also be inadvisable to be apprehended. That would more than quarter our effective strength until I were able to bail you out of lockup."

Faith returned the smile with a broader one. "All warmed and shit by the concern, G, in an embarrassing kinda way." She winked, "Carefulness is my middle name."

Xander laughed, his eyes widening, "Wow. How'd you manage that with such a straight face?"

"Practice," she said in a fake sweet voice. Her voice deepened and her frown returned, causing her dimples to fade. "All right. Check it out, don't get caught, bring you anything useful."

"Correct," Giles said. He looked at Xander. "Perhaps you should keep an eye on the affected ladies, Xander. See if you can glean any additional information from their behaviors. _Anything_ else that might give us clues. Mr. Osborne and I shall return to researching Mr. Hideyoshi's history and any possible sources for the effect while Faith reconnoiters."

Xander stretched painfully, yawning and rubbing at his eyes. He snagged another Bavarian crème from one of the donut boxes, shooting a glance at the clock. "I have second period Social Sciences with Cordy and Will when the bell rings. I can watch 'em there while you guys work." Looking over at the guitarist, he said, "Meet you outside of Biology at 3rd?"

Oz nodded. "Going to cross reference with news reports and medical and discipline records from whatever schools he's worked at."

"Great," Faith said. "Looks like we gots us a plan. Let's get cracking."

**................................................**

_**Thursday September 17, 1998; Sunnydale residential neighborhood, mid-morning.**_

According to the address, this would be the place. Faith double checked as she drew to a halt before the biology teacher's supposed home. Not all that far from the Sunnydale High Scool as a slayer measured jogging distance, and on the opposite side of downtown from Mrs. Summers' and the guys homes.

She gave it a careful looking over, bending down to fiddle with her boot laces. The place was one of those standard California tract homes, the ones that all looked the same if they didn't have a different paint job. This one was in the Spanish style cookie cutter stucco style that the rest of this neighborhood favored, with a reddish tiled roof. Maybe a bit more upscale than the kind of place you'd expect a teacher to live, but given what Cordy'd said about property values and prices in this town, Hideyoshi could probably afford it. Didn't look like anyone was home, the driveway was empty and nobody in this state seemed to actually use their garage to store cars anyway. She frowned, examining the closed garage door. Unless Hideyoshi was the exception - Oz had said he'd come here from out of state. But the biology teacher should be in school right now...

Straightening after giving her boot laces one final unnecessary tug, she continued up the block at a light jog, carefully counting the houses to the end of the street. On the next corner, she ducked into the alley between the rows of stucco homes after making sure there were no early morning lawn waterers or nosy old ladies watching her. Once in, she counted back gates until she was sure she was behind Hideyoshi's yard and gave the gate a sharp thump with her fist, waiting afterwards. After a minute or so, she scrambled over the redwood privacy fence with a short hop and a vault, dropping lightly to the grass on the other side.

No dog, and that was a good thing.

Examining the back of the house, Faith grinned to herself on seeing that the rear patio doors were open a few inches. The burglar's friend - the sliding doors of entry. Reaching into a back pocket, she pulled out a pair of soft leather gloves and drew them on, moving up to the house. Under the pillared rear overhang, she paused to study the doors and peer inside.

The sliding screen door was closed and latched, but that wasn't much of an impediment to Slayer strength. A steady pressure against the handle snapped the latch with a quiet twang and the screen slid open, letting her slip inside. She slid it closed after, freezing in place to look the room over.

Looked like a den or entertainment room to her. Game room. Whatever. Long room running almost the beck length of the house, and about twelve feet deep from sliding doors to opposite wall. A slightly sunken floor from the patio doors, a large screen television on a low table-stand surrounded by comfortable looking chairs, woven mats, and brush painted artwork on the walls that looked vaguely Japanese to Faith's untrained eyes. A number of small trees or large plants in earthenware pots sat by the corners and doorways.

Two steps in and a few down the slight steps into the room, Faith froze again, holding her breath, as Harmony came trotting into the room carrying a feather duster. Still wearing the same clothes she'd left school in on Monday, Harmony cocked her head, giving Faith a blank look.

"Hello?" Harmony bobbed her head in an oddly birdlike fashion.

"Hey, Harm," Faith stuck her hands in her back pockets, looking the blonde girl over. "What are you doing here?"

"What are you doing here?" Harmony asked back, bobbing her head again.

Frowning, Faith raised an eyebrow. "Asked you first."

"Asked you first," Harmony said, frowning back. "Skank! Skank!" She bobbed her head excitedly.

"All right," Faith pushed her hair back with an exasperated gesture. "I _don't_ have time for this."

"I don't have time for this," Harmony said, cocking her head and peering at Faith. "I don't have time for this."

"Right." Faith scowled. "And you're just repeating whatever I say, huh?"

"Repeating whatever I say, huh?" Harmony bobbed her head again, shaking her shoulders with an odd movement.

"Right. You stay here," Faith suggested, "And be quiet while I take a look around, huh?"

"Take a look around, huh?" Harmony bobbed her head excitedly. "Take a look around?"

"I'd _really_ rather you didn't," came a deep, amused sounding male voice from the right hand archway leading into the room. Crouching slightly, Faith spun towards the voice to see a slender, well built looking Japanese looking man in a gray sports coat and dark slacks.

"_Really_ rather you didn't," Harmony broke in as Faith straightened from her crouch.

"Shut up, Harmony," Faith said absently while she studied the newcomer. Predictably, Harmony echoed the sentiment. The man matched the picture she'd seen on Oz's computer screen, but unlike the photo, this man looked no more than early middle-age and had black hair, not the salt-and-pepper look in the image.

"Mr. Hideyoshi?" The man nodded and Faith's eyebrow arched. "Figured you'd be in class." Harmony repeated her sentence like a bizarre echo.

"I took a personal day off," Mr. Hideyoshi stated. "It seems that was a good thing to do, as it turns out."

"Y'know, that's kidnapping," Faith remarked, gesturing at the head bobbing Harmony. She took a lazy step towards the teacher, her fingers flexing lightly. Her back teeth grated together as Harmony repeated Faith's words, twice.

"Hardly," Hideyoshi said, smiling slightly as Faith strolled towards him slowly. "Miss Kendall is here by her own will, as you will be."

Faith's body tensed slightly in preparation for a smooth forward rush as she neared to within twelve feet of the teacher. Lay 'im out, tie him up, and dial up G...

"Wanna bet?" Faith smirked, taking another step as Hideyoshi adjusted the cuff link on his right sleeve. There was a slight golden flash, reflected in her own eyes, and a wave of dizzyness went through her, followed by a sensation of relaxation. Faith stumbled slightly, shaking her head. Her head coming back up, she frowned and took another step forward, saying, "Ok, guy we're gonna- "

Hideyoshi frowned, his fingers playing with the cuff link again. There was another flash and Faith's words trailed off as a deep rumble came out of her chest. She shook her head again, her eyes narrowing as she took another step forward, and Hideyosi's frown and look of concentration deepened. He tweaked the jewelry yet again, giving off one last flash. Faith's last conscious thoughts were, _'Shoulda decked Harmony, grabbed her and ran... ' _before a soothing veil dropped over her mind.

Moving sinuously, Faith continued up to him with a prowling stride, butting her head insistently against his chest as the rumbling sound intensified.

"Interesting," Hideyoshi remarked. His hand came up to stroke Faith's hair and her eyes closed, her head pushing insistently into his hand.

"Interesting," Harmony repeated. Her head bobbed in an agitated movement. "Interesting."

***********************************************


	12. Chapter 11: Now Don't Tell Me

**Chapter 11:**** Now Don't Tell Me... I've Nothing to Do ****-**

_**Thursday September 17, 1998; Sunnydale High School Library, mid morning.**_

_From the personal Journals of Rupert Giles, Watcher:_

_There is a popular adage that states that 'No good deed ever goes unpunished'. Observing the various trials that the Hellmouth seems to visit with great regularity upon my Slayers and their young assistants, I cannot fail to wonder if it is more axiom than adage. It certainly does seem that with every victory they wrest from the darkness, some malevolence seems determined to counterbalance it with assaults that tear at the essences of whatever strengths they draw upon. During the past months alone, I have seen them weather tests of spirit that would possibly fracture far older and more mature men and women._

_In previous months, I've seen my former Slayer buckle under such a test, worn to a drawn fragment of the cheery, irreverent girl I first encountered._

_In many ways, the balance that Faith has struggled to achieve recently is much more precarious, and more and more seems irrevocably tied to the bonds that she is forging with her friends and partners. Most notably with young Harris and Ms. Chase, one of whom is the apparent target of this latest manifestation of the Hellmouth's pernicious influence._

_As I take this brief respite to gather and organize my thoughts and to update this journal, I reflect upon my ongoing observations of the young people around me. Each new crisis shows me new depths and facets to these youngsters, causing me to reevaluate yet again with new eyes. I am forced to wonder again if actual parents continually look upon their progeny with fresh eyes, wondering from whence these young strangers appeared wearing the guises of the children they thought they knew._

_Despite our tentative leads, we are as of yet no closer to discovering a real cause for the seemingly animalistic transformations of the various girl's personalities. It is so far not matched within any descriptions of spell or demonic effects to be found within my available references. Nor, apparently, are any clues to be found as of yet in whatever online resources there are, including those found within Jenny Calendar's technopagan communities._

_Ever reserved, young Osborne has drifted into an almost grim intensity of focus that might astonish anyone familiar with his normal lackadaisical and ironic outlook upon life. Understandably, to be certain: Daniel Osborne's attachment to young Miss Rosenburg exceeds even his understated devotion to his musical interests. From moment to moment as promising leads prove to be unrelated to the effects we've noted, he sinks farther into a sullen ferocity of effort that cannot fail to recall similarities to the beast that devours him from within once a month. Watching him, I'm struck yet again by the paucity of reliable information that is available on how the beast self manifests within the were afflicted individual outside of the lunar cycles. At odd moments when the corner of my eye falls upon him at his computer, I glimpse something more lupine and predatory hunched over the keyboard than the laconic teenager I'm used to. I am reminded that wolves mate for life, and at these moments there is little human and much of the bereaved predator in this child-man..._

_Then I gaze upon him fully, and there is but a slight, small, and very young man with worry lines creasing his forehead and the corners of his eyes, his shoulders hunched as though under a weight much greater than he wishes to bear. _

_Whilst I have not had as much opportunity to observe Xander Harris at length during this crisis, I have noted an edge of near panic mixed with grim seriousness underlaying his normal clownish demeanor - a clownishness that normally persists even in the midst of times of grave peril. I cannot wonder at this: were I once again a young man only recently discovering hitherto unsuspected depths of feeling for a young woman such as Ms Chase, as I suspect is the case with young Xander, I believe that I too would have an edge of gibbering panic and grimness to my behaviors. Nor can I fault him - far from the petty, superficially attractive, and flighty girl I had once taken her for, Ms. Chase has of late revealed herself to be a young woman capable of surprising depths of beauty and character often at odds with her surface personae. To have discovered such a gem only to be faced with the possibility of slowly losing her would drive any worthy young male into depths of near homicidal depression - I marvel that Xander is able to hang onto as much of his normal cheerfulness and irreverence as he has._

_Losing myself briefly in these observations does at least serve to distract me from my own very real concerns over whatever effect is afflicting our female companions, as well as my frustrations at being unable to identify a possible cause even with the data points available to me. I greatly share Oz, Xander, and Faith's intensity of frustration: Miss Rosenburg and Ms. Chase are remarkable young women to the eyes of anyone who takes time to look beneath outward appearances and mannerisms. Their loss would strike deeply to the core of our small group in many ways; ways not merely limited to the hearts of their paramours._

_I do find myself envious of Faith in this: while her own concerns are readily apparent, she at least has the solace of preferred action within to immerse herself. Waiting upon the results of her expedition while perusing volumes that steadfastly refuse to divulge needed answers is possibly the hardest of the two options. For the sake of her friends and her own stability, I do hope that she is successful where we are currently failing. I wish her Godspeed and good fortune in her search._

_Which in turn brings me full circle to one of my earlier paragraphs: I have three young people in desperate need of options for the salvation of those close to them; two compatriots that are in equally desperate need of rescue; all of them depending on me to provide - and I have neither succor nor option to offer any of them._

_It also occurs to me how greatly Willow's absence and the lack of Cordelia's oft scathing - but often perceptive observations - diminish our research abilities and effectiveness. Coming at the same time as Dacascos' counter movements, it is a tactical loss we can ill afford as much as it is a personal blow against us all. That 'coincidence' bears further examination, I believe..._

_- Rupert Giles, Watcher; In this Year of Our Lord 1998, September the 17th.

* * *

  
_

Giles set aside his journal as Oz glanced over from the computer, placing it near the stack of reference materials he'd set before himself for further perusal. Leaning back in his chair, Oz stretched while rubbing at his eyes, then gave Giles a curious look.

"Anything?"

"I'm afraid not," Giles admitted. "I've been using writing therapy, as it were, to order my thoughts upon the situation and speculate upon various avenues of exploration." The not-quite-lie came easily to him: he _had_ spent at least _part_ of that period of time making lists and noting lines of inquiry both future and already explored.

"Did it help?" Oz's expression was bland, but there was a small tic at his left eyebrow that hadn't been there at the start of the morning.

"Some." Steepling his fingers before himself, Giles looked over the fingertips into the immediate distance. "I've at least managed to list out the possibilities we've explored that have _not_ borne fruit. And also outlined a few possibilities for later exploration, depending of course upon Faith's discoveries at Hideyoshi's residence." Glancing up, he inquired, "Yourself?"

"List of odd occurrences involving female students at other schools Hideyoshi's been affiliated with," Oz said. "Seems a few girls have been institutionalized over the years from behavioral disorders." Oz crossed his arms over his chest, looking thoughtful. Giles reflected that those were two of the longest sentences he'd possibly heard the musician utter ere now. Continuing, Oz stated, "And left posts on Ms. Calendar's old techno-pagan boards outlining things. No responses yet."

"Hmm. The timing strikes me as odd," Giles remarked. Oz's eyebrows lifted, and he elaborated. "Coupled with Dacascos' apparent offensive against us, just now, this seems oddly coincidental."

Oz's expression went distant for a moment, and he nodded. "Takes out one of our main researchers and support pillars. And it distracts us from trying to deal with his demon assassins."

"Indeed." Giles nodded. "However, that still leaves us with nothing to either connect nor rule out the possibility, nor any means of combating this effect as of yet."

"As of yet," Oz's expression was wry. "It'll turn up. It has to." His eyes flickered to the wall clock and he added, "Time for me to start getting ready to meet Xander and the girls for third period.

"Very well. I shall redouble my efforts to uncover some possibly useful means of approach until your return."

**................................................**

_**Thursday September 17, 1998; Sunnydale High School Biology Classroom 132, 10:30 A.M.**_

Oz caught up with Xander and the girls a couple of minutes before the bell. When Oz gripped Xander by the shoulder, indicating with a slight squeeze and a jerk of the head for Xander to hold up a moment, he gave Cordelia a peck on the cheek and sent her into class ahead of them with a brightly chattering Willow and Aura.

"So, tell me you came up with something useful?" Xander asked. He stepped aside to let Heidi past them, answering her inquiring look with a shrug.

"Hmm. Define 'useful'," Oz said, shoving his hands in his pockets. Tilting his head, he stated, "Found lots. Not sure how useful it is yet."

"Great." Shoving his own hands in his pockets, Xander favored the world around them with a disgusted look. "Faith make it back yet?"

Oz shook his head. Looking past Xander in through the classroom door, both of his eyebrows went up. Following the musician's gaze with a questioning look, Xander frowned as he saw a dark haired young woman shuffling papers from a folder at Mr. Hideyoshi's desk.

"And the day just keeps getting better," Xander observed.

"Where are we going?" Oz said. "And _why_ are we in this hand basket?"

With a bark of startled laughter, Xander nodded agreement as he turned and pushed through the door with the last group of trailing students. As Oz went to sit with Cordelia and Willow at their lab table, Xander sauntered his way up to the front desk with a disarming - he hoped - grin.

"Hi there," Xander summoned all of his non-existent charm. "Where's Mr. Hideyoshi?"

"Hmm. I believe he took a personal day, Mr... ?" The young woman favored him with a half smile, half frown.

"Harris. Xander Harris," Xander bobbed his head, smiling back. "So, will he be back today? Is he sick?"

"Sorry," she gave him a politely sympathetic look. "Have no idea. I'm Ms. Dane - I was called in to substitute for him today." She shrugged, apparently unconcerned.

"Oh, ok. And I'm sure you'll do a fine job at it, too," Xander said. He suddenly realized that she probably thought he was a classroom Romeo flirting with her before the bell, his cheeks warming. "Uh... look, I know it's right before the bell- " the bell that rang just then, confirming his theory, "But I _really_ need to hit the bathroom before class. Desperately."

The half frown became a full one as she regarded him. "_Really_, Mr. Harris. I would greatly prefer that you take care of such things before the bell, if you would."

"Yeah, well. I do. Err, I did," Xander said, crossing his legs at the knees and bouncing slightly. "But we have fast water in this school. At the fountains, I mean. Fast."

"Oh," Ms. Dane shook her head, looking past him at the restless class. "Go ahead. But do please hurry back. I won't hold today's lesson for you." Pausing, she asked, "Do you need a hall pass?"

"Thanks," Xander's grin broadened and he uncrossed his knees. "No, uh, it's just around the corner. No problem," he assured her. _'No problem except __me__ looking like an idiot, and I'm __used__ to that.'_

Turning the long rotation away from her desk so he could look across the Biology lab as he did, he caught Oz's eyes - along with curious looks from Willow, Cordelia, Larry, and Heidi - as he turned. He did his best to communicate something relevant to Oz via sign language, and figured he just ended up looking even more spazzed without accomplishing much.

Oz raised an eyebrow, glanced past Xander at Ms. Dane, and nodded fractionally. Xander almost bolted out of the classroom.

Once out in the hall, he threw a quick look around for trolls and thugs, and then pelted away headed for the library. Enroute, he desperately wracked his brain trying to remember everything Willow had ever mentioned about browser caches. Part way there he realized that Oz had been using his own laptop, and came to a dead stop. _'Crap!'_ Xander thought furiously. _'No point in even thinking about wondering if Giles could dig Hideyoshi's files out of the library computer. He's even more with the technical ineptness than I am. What we __need__ is a hacker.'_

It struck him between the eyes that if someone had deliberately wanted to cripple the Scoobies/Nightwatchmen, you'd be hard pressed to find a better way than by taking out their technical genius, common sense, and female brawn all at one stroke. He really hoped this was accidental, or they were screwed.

_'Hacker, phracker, and a brain... If I only had a brain... And I know __just__ where to get one,'_ he realized a moment later. _'Now all I have to do is remember what class he has now and figure out how to non-verbally get him out of class... '_

***********************************************


	13. Chapter 12: It's good to see you

**Chapter 12: ****It's good to see you, I must go (I know I look a fright)**** -**

_**Thursday September 17, 1998; Sunnydale High School Library, mid/late morning.**_

Jonathan Levinson was contemplating karma. He would only _call_ it that after long consideration, but it was probably the word that fit the best.

The criminal offenses that could be leveled at a hacker were potentially enormous, coming with the kind of jail time that could prevent the perpetrator from ever holding a decent paying job again. Alternatively and for better or worse, depending on how you looked it it, you could find yourself being offered a nice, secure job in computer security - working for one of the TLA agencies. In the mind of Jonathan, he knew that he was getting off lightly by paying off his debt to society, and that debt was much lighter than he knew it could have been: tutoring Faith and helping Oz wasn't _that_ harsh a sentence. Getting off that lightly from what he knew by now amounted to negligent homicide at worst, manslaughter at best, there was a sense of oppressive Jewish guilt that weighed on his head. If there was one thing his mother taught him, it was that the other shoe dropped when you least expected or wanted it to. The other thing was 'Be a mensch.'

As such, he was sadly unsurprised when a panicked looking Xander Harris stopping into his Economics class just a few moments after the bell rang. When Xander stuck his shaggy head around the corner, he immediately drew it back. The flicker of motion was enough to get Jonathan's attention. Other shoe, meet linoleum.

Slowly Harris leaned back in and made a 'come hither' gesture as slowly as he could. Jonathan raised an eyebrow and made a very pointed gesture at Ms. Wright, whose back was currently towards the class. In response Xander narrowed his eyes and very deliberately drew his index finger across his own neck and then jabbing at Ms. Wright's computer. Jonathan let out a small sigh and slumped in his chair. Great. Here we go again.

Oh well, could be worse. It could be raining again.

"Ms. Wright," he asked as she paused in her speech about the structure of macro economic conditions in Russia. "May I use the restroom?"

"Certainly dear," the aging Wright responded. With a grateful smile, Jonathan got to his feet and walked out the door. There _were_ perks to being a nerd, he supposed. Infrequent perks in high school, sure, but there were perks. Ok, based on the look Xander'd been wearing, maybe _not_ a perk...

As soon as he was out the door, Harris grabbed him and began a near sprint down the hall and out the stairwell door leading to the side courtyards. Once at the ground level, he turned them towards the back of the library. Reaching the doors and looking around, Xander seemed pleased that the coast looked clear. Tugging the mildly protesting Jonathan behind him, Xander yanked open the door to the library stacks open. He pushed Jonathan in ahead of him, throwing another look around. "C'mon - this way."

"Oh, maaannn... " Jonathan whined. "Cutting out of 3rd period - I am _so_ screwed. My economics grade is gonna be _shot_."

"Some things are more important than grades," Xander said, tugging the other senior along behind him. "We've got trouble. Bigger trouble than a plummeting GPA." Jonathan shot him a scandalized look. "Here we go." Giving Jonathan a push, Xander herded him toward the stairs to the main floor, not giving him a chance to balk. No other students around, for good or ill.

"But... Mr. Giles _hates_ me," Jonathan said, attempting to balk anyway.

"Hate is such a strong word," Xander said, giving him a shove. Seeing the frightened and wounded expression on Jonathan, he winced a bit - seeming uncomfortable at the image of himself acting like the other school bullies, but his face was serious. "_Accurate,_ maybe, but strong."

Hearing the commotion, Rupert Giles came out of his office door and stopped to fix the pair with a bemused and slightly alarmed look as they came down the stairs. "Xander? I had rather thought you'd be in biology observing?" Nodding to the other teen, he added, "Mr. Levinson."

"Hey, Mr. Giles," Jonathan hunched into his shoulders as they came to a stop by the desk.

"Uh, change of plans, Giles." Xander scowled, shoving his hands into his front pockets. "Remember when I said we had trouble in River City? Upgrade to 'Big Trouble on Little Hellmouth'." His eyes widening, Jonathan mouthed 'Hellmouth?'.

"Indeed?" Giles removed his glasses, fixing Xander with an inquiring look.

"Yeah. Mondo bad - Hideyoshi took a personal day out and isn't here," Xander said, guiding Jonathan to one of the library computers. "Means Faith may be in deep kimchi."

"Oh dear," Giles nodded, beginning to distractedly polish his glasses.

"Man, Mr. Giles already came down on me for this," Jonathan stage whispered to Xander. "He'll _kill_ me."

"Hey, the G can be real flexible in a crisis," Xander said. "Hack."

"Ummm... " Giles wandered over to the pair from around the counter, still polishing. "May I ask _exactly_ what you two are about?" Jonathan winced, hunching a bit deeper into his chair.

"Got to get to Hideyoshi's place. Oz stayed in class," Xander remarked, leaning over Jonathan's chair.

"Ah. Quite," replacing his glasses, Giles nodded, sticking his hands in his pockets. "Do carry on then."

"Ok... " sighing, Jonathan put his hands to the keyboard, pulling up a prompt window. "But if I get in trouble, I'm blaming you."

"Jonathan... " Xander let out a frustrated breath, running his hand through his hair. "Willow, Oz, Cordy, and Faith are the _reason_ you're not buying Depends right now. Gather that _Faith's_ the reason you're not talking to the Feds. You _owe_ them."

"Quite right, Mr. Levinson," Giles remarked. "While I prefer not to encourage illegalities, such niceties drop by the wayside when one of my charges is endangered. If you are _able_ to be of assistance, please do so."

"Right. I know," Jonathan muttered in a distracted tone. "I know." Entering his appropriated password, he hit Enter and waited a few moments. "Ok, I'm in," he said. "What am I looking for?"

"Uh... Mr. Hideyoshi's files?" Xander frowned. "Need his address."

"Oh. Ah... " pausing, he said. "No problem - I saved out and took notes on some stuff that looked useful even if we _didn't_ know what was connected yet." Digging a scrap of note paper from his pocket, he passed it to Xander. "Anything else?"

"Huh. Anything else you can dig up on Hideyoshi. No matter what - _no_ idea what could come in handy," Xander said.

"Right. School employment records and personnel files it is, and," Jonathan said, nodding decisively. "On my way... " his fingers clicked rapidly on the keys, "Here and off we go."

"Thanks," he said. "Ok. Can you pull up one of them map thingies for directions? To here, I mean?" Xander waved the note.

"Oh, _that's_ easy," Jonathan said. Opening a browser window, he pulled up a web map for California and entered the information, waiting several minutes for it to process. "Lab computers are faster," he remarked. "Ok... " entering the school's address, he waited until it displayed directions and a map route, saying, "Here you go."

"Cool. Uh... " Xander patted himself down, then looked around helplessly.

"Allow me," Giles said. He retrieved a pad and pen from the main desk, and handed them to Xander. Xander grabbed them, turning back to the screen and scribbling furiously.

"Good deal," Xander grinned, leaning over Jonathan's shoulder to jot down the directions. "Cool." Tearing off the directions page, he tossed the pad and pen onto the computer desk and went around to the research table. Grabbing his jacket off the back of a chair, he shrugged into it. "Off to rescue Slaygal, Giles."

"Umm... do be careful, please," Giles remarked.

"Hey, 'Carefulness' is my middle name too," Xander said, heading across to the stairs. "Well, according to Cordy it's 'Doofus' right now, but I'm thinking of changing it." Bounding up the short staircase, he disappeared towards the rear door.

"Umm... " Jonathan frowned at Xander's retreating back, then looked over at Giles. "Slaygal? Hellmouth?"

"Err, ah. Oh, bother," Giles frowned, removing his glasses again. Sighing heavily, he looked down at Jonathan, saying, "You may as well step into my office, Mr. Levinson. This may take a bit."

**................................................**

_**Thursday September 17, 1998; Sunnydale residential neighborhood, eleven-thirty-ish.**_

The neighbor across the street and several doors down had a large cluster of bushes near the base of a huge, decorative pine tree that almost formed a small thicket at the corner of their yard. _Prickly_ bushes - Xander shifted uncomfortably as a leaf with too many sharp edges worked its away into his collar. Eyes narrowed, Xander knelt at the edge of the small thicket staring at the house matching the address Jonathan had given him, trying his best to spontaneously develop x-ray vision. It wasn't working.

Nice neighborhood. Way nicer than the one Xander and Jesse had grown up it at the upper edge of town. Matter of fact, it was as nice as Jonathan's over by Oz's neighborhood. Too bad this guy couldn't be like ninety percent of the people in nice neighborhoods in Sunnydale and park his damned car out in the driveway or on the street. Sheesh. Well, it was either parked in the double doored garage attached to the Spanish style house, or Hideyoshi wasn't home - Xander had done a casual circle of the block and alley and hadn't spotted car nor movement near the house or in the rear carport. Portico. Whatever the hell you called those little roofed things you pulled a car under.

And, naw. He couldn't be that lucky. Hideyoshi was in there, dammit. Lurking. Because that's what monsters and aliens _do_ in bad horror movies. They _lurk_.

And then they rear up and bite the heads off of idiots like Xander who casually wander down into their basements thinking they're not home.

_'The calvary is a scared guy with a rock, again,'_ Xander thought. He snorted. _'Man, we __really__ need some better cavalry. And I shoulda gone with the costume with the big red 'S' on Halloween.'_

Finally giving up, he backed up a bit and frantically clawed the spiny leaf out of the back of his shirt collar before it managed to work its way even farther down his back. He moved back up to where he could peer out between the two bush edges, sighing in relief. Ok, so it was a little better than a rock and a sharp stick, this time. His new knife made for a comforting weight in the shoulder scabbard under his arm, as did the Holy Water pistol in the 45 pocket of his bomber jacket. It'd be even _more_ comforting if he knew the heavy bladed knife would kill whatever Hideyoshi was, or if holy water would affect him. And if he wasn't uncomfortably aware that _Faith_ usually carried that evil looking eighteen inch dagger across her back and that wicked tanto in her boot. Not that he had any _intention_ of using a blade on Faith - he'd cut his own throat first.

_'Ok, Xander. So, what would Buffy do in this situation?'_ Xander mused. A shock of resentment, staggering in its viciousness and intensity, shot through him. _'Screw that. __Buffy's__ not __here__ - she bugged out and left us to it. Faith is here, and she's in there, and it's all down to you, doofus.'_ The imagined Cordy-voice in his head brought a ghost of a smirk to his lips as he imagined her chewing him out. The smirk faded as he realized the intensity with which he wished Cordy was kneeling next to him doing _just_ that, bitching and complaining all the while. _'__Focus__, Xan. One thing at a time. We go in, me and the Cordy-ghost in my head, we get Faith out, and then we get Cordy and Will out of this... '_

A grinding sound caught his attention and he narrowed his eyes at the house as the garage door slowly slid upwards. A few endless minutes later the nose of a vehicle poked its way out and a metallic blue mini-van rolled down the driveway and hung a right into the street. Through the tinted glass he could barely make out a head that looked somewhat like Hideyoshi's as the van drove past him. Letting out a breath he didn't know he was holding, he waited til the van turned the corner at the end of the block, and then slowly counted out one-Mississippi increments until he was sure it wasn't just coming back around.

There was no way of telling if Faith had been in the van. He shook his head to clear mental images of a small, five-foot-five dark haired body being hauled out for disposal as he gingerly extracted himself from his hiding place.

Across the street and at the side of Hideyoshi's house, he slid along the garage wall to the narrow gate and examined the latch. No visible lock, at least not from the outside. A relieved breath left him when the latch lifted easly and the wooden gate swung outwards. Once inside, he swung the gate shut behind him, crouching inside and looking around. Xander waited a few agonizing moments before standing up and moving towards the back sliding door. He froze for a moment as he heard voices from inside, then music and flickering lights clued him in that Hideyoshi had left the TV on. Reaching out, he restarted his heart and pulled gently on the handle. With a slight grin of victory, the door slid quietly open. Xander stepped into the carpeted den, noting the big TV, prints, plants, and various bonsai knock offs scattered around the room.

Clearing the grin from his lips, he crept towards one of the room ends. Fifty-fifty chance on directions, might as well search the whole house...

Harmony popping up from the chair behind the TV as he moved toward one of the arched doorways _damned_ near stopped his heart again.

"Yikes! Harmony, jeeze," Xander shook his head. "Don't do that!"

"Harmony, jeeze," Harmony said, in what Xander took as a mocking tone. "Don't do that!"

"Funny, Harm," Xander blew out an exasperated breath, shaking his head. "Let me find Faith and we'll get you out of here." It itched at the back of his mind that Harmony should have been able to walk out the unlocked sliding door...

Harmony hopped up to squat on the seat of the big recliner, cocking her head oddly at him. Blinking, she said, "Funny, Harm. Let me find Faith. Let me find Faith." She moved her elbows in a weird flapping motion and Xander's blood ran cold.

"Okayyy... I see you're happy where you are. Good." Xander bobbed his head, getting a surreal chill as Harmony bobbed hers back and repeated the 'happy where you are, good' to him. _'Oh, crap. They got Harmony. The bastards,'_ ran through his mind followed by the strange little voice at the back of it remarking, _'Always __knew__ she was a bird brain.'_

A soft door slam from his left, some small distance off, caught his attention and he jerked his head that way as Faith ambled up into visibility in the other archway. For a brief instant, Xander felt himself relax as he saw Faith up and moving freely. Then he noticed the steak clutched in one of her hands...

_Then_ he noticed the red drippy marks on her lower face and chin, around the mouth, and the _raw_ steak in her hand registered on him, and the relief turned to horror in his mind and congealed there.

Tilting her head, she fixed him with that flat predator's gaze that she examined vamps with and the horror melted and started running freely again.

Locking eyes with him, Faith's lips parted and a soft, deep rumbling sound came from her chest. There was a momentary flash in her eyes as though she recognized him, and her lips peeled away from her teeth in her familiar, blinding grin. Then the recognition submerged and Faith's eyes lit up and she took a slow step forward, her nostrils flaring as he involuntarily backed up, seeing no trace of his friend's normal consciousness or personality behind those opaque brown orbs. Like a slide show on steroids, a kaleidoscope of images shot across his mind's eye...

* Willow bent forward at the Bronze, pushing her rear at Oz on the dance floor. Willow with her teeth bared almost in a rictus and her arm cocked back to fling a roll at Snyder. Willow with a tray full of greens and fruit. 'Presenting', Oz had said...

* Harmony cocking her head in an almost bird like fashion, bobbing it erratically and repeating things back at him. _Parroting_ things back at him...

* Aura's voice gone shrill and yappy sounding as she wriggled all over at the least tone of approval, her eyes huge and liquidy. Aura bouncing up to Hideyoshi's desk, almost pathetically eager...

* Cordelia hunching into herself, her arms spread slightly, breath coming in tiny pants. Cordelia tucking into his arm and side, nuzzling at him, her eyes downcast. Cordelia drab and almost shy in her clothing choices...

* Faith with a raw steak in her hand and her eyes gone flat, calculating, and disinterested. Faith slowly prowling towards him with a feline and graceful stride, a low rumble in her chest and throat...

* Raw, naked lust in Faith's gaze on his body. Kyle and Rhonda's eyes gone greenish as they almost hoisted Lance into the hyena pit before he broke loose and ran. Heidi examining the biology classroom with that same opaque, flat, and disinterested gaze, her body gone bonelessly relaxed. Oz coiled in his seat, an oddly wolfish cast to his expression. Herbert-the-piglet struggling frantically in his hands as his head came down to bite, and the sensuous feel of raw living flesh sliding down his throat. The hair bristling on his neck nape and his eyes narrowing as a sense of something walking somewhere in the biology room near him, dangerous and unseen, and an echo of something ancient and deadly inside of him standing up on its hind legs and snarling in response...

_Everything_ that Heidi and Tor had told him, _all_ of the little subtle clues that had been there that they hadn't quite been able to put together, finally smacked him in the face and then clicked into that congealing horror and locked there. Whoever or whatever Hideyoshi was, Xander _knew_ he had done this. Somehow he'd caused Faith, Cordelia, Harmony, and Aura to become something _Other_ - something truly animal. He _knew_ that feeling, remembered the haze of it all as he stared at Faith for that awful moment, remembered crouching at the back of his own mind gibbering as his own body did things he couldn't control, and acted on feelings and thoughts _he'd_ pushed deep inside and locked away over the years.

He'd forgotten the _other_ thing that monsters do in their lairs besides _lurk_. They make other monsters.

Some part of him wondered if this distant horror was what Buffy had felt like when he was standing where Faith was and Buffy was in his position.

Unfortunately, _he_ didn't have super strength _this_ time, unlike Buffy. And _boy_ was he regretting that right about now.

Faith slunk forward, her body seeming awfully low to the ground for some reason, her eyes fixed on his and that not-quite smile parting her lips. Xander found himself backing away just as slowly, almost unconsciously dropping into something in between one of the stances they'd been training in and something another part of his mind dredged up. The mounting horror deepened as he felt something inside of him wake up and _respond_ to Faith's graceful, swaying stalk with a rush of heat in his loins. He was suddenly aware that he was way too conscious of the shape of Faith's lips, the pulse at the line of her throat, and the curving swell of her breasts showing at the 'V' neck of her t-shirt. Bizarrely, the lion busting through a silk-screened tear on the front of the Mountain tee registered as weirdly appropriate.

"Uh," Xander shifted uncomfortably, attempting to will a certain traitorous part of his anatomy down as he took another slow step back. "Could we, like, _talk_ about this?"

"Talk about this? Talk about this?" Harmony screeched and Xander's eyes jerked involuntarily as he remembered her presence. A surreal image of her burned itself into the corner of his eye: bent forward over her knees with her head and body bobbing up and down, the gleeful expression on her face starkly maniacal.

Faith made a small leap forward and his gaze jerked back around to her as he stepped back hastily, feeling himself go over backwards with his arms windmilling for balance. He remembered to slap the carpet to break his fall _after_ he'd already nailed it with an impact that made his eyes cross for a second. A grinning Faith landed astride him on her fingertips and the balls of her feet, a soft golden glow lighting up her eyes. He scrambled back hastily and she toe-and-fingertip walked forward with him, rumbling softly.

"Ok, Faith? Can we talk about this?" In answer, Faith leaned forward over him, sniffing at his neck with a whuffling sound. Xander's eyes widened even more. "C'mon, Faith - I _know_ you're in there somewhere watching all this. You've _got_ to break past it and stop." He slid backwards, shoving himself along with his elbows and fingers. If he had one of Cordy's dad's shotguns right now, he'd turn Harmony into a puff of blonde feathers just to shut up her endless screechy repeats of his words...

_'Great,'_ he thought as Faith's mouth opened and lowered closer to his collarbone. _'I'm going to be eaten alive by one of my best friends with the last thing I hear being Harmony echoing every scream, gurgle and belch. I'm in Hell!'_

Faith teeth closed gently on his collarbone and he shrieked. The low rumbling deepened, going up and down in a weird pattern as her lips and teeth moved up along the line of his throat to his face. Lips curving in a malevolent looking parody of her usual smirk, she leaned forward and - ran her tongue along his jawline? Lowering herself onto her spread knees, she ground herself against him, drawing a sudden, involuntary response from his crotch...

"Yah!!!" Xander shoved himself backwards with his feet, elbows and hands, scooting almost two feet farther into the room before he lost momentum. Harmony bounced up and down, screeching 'Yah!' in hideous, gleeful agreement. Her lips twitching, Faith slid forward onto him in a pouncing motion and pressed her crotch against him as she leaned down to nip at his throat again, rumbling deeper. "Bad kitty! Bad Faith!"

_'Oh my god, she's __**purring**__, __not__ growling,'_ Xander realized. Something inside woke up farther and he felt his own hips move up to meet Faith's in an involuntary spasm. He was suddenly too aware of Faith's scent and the heat of her body, her smell a mixture of musk, cinnamon, sweat, woman, and the citrusy body oil she liked, mixed with something that his mind remembered from the intense not-quite-sex sessions with Cordelia as female arousal. His jeans suddenly went uncomfortably tight. _'Oh my god, Cordelia's going to __kill__ me! Slowly!'_

The strange little voice at the back of it remarked, _'But no mantis ladies will ever look at you again,'_ and he spasmed as Faith locked her mouth against his, engulfing his lips in a vortex of heat and moistness and cherry flavored lip gloss. And raw steak juice. It was the realization that a part of his brain found the steak blood oddly _erotic_ that caused him to shove her away in horror as he scrambled backwards again. A flailing hand struck something metal that clattered off of the TV stand and Faith tilted her head, her eyes focusing on it intently. Some spark fired in whatever neurons he had that weren't seized up in lust and shock and he threw it to roll rattling across the floor behind his head.

Faith pounced at it like a huge, playful tabby and he scrambled to his feet, up and running for the archway that she'd entered the room through.

He managed to delude himself that he might have made it if his foot hadn't come down on something squishy and gone out from under him in mid stride...

Xander's chin struck the carpet and black closed in around the edges of his vision as raw steak juice soaked into the knee of his pants. A cheerfully rumbling Faith landed astride his back, her crotch hot against his buttocks as he _desperately_ blinked cartoon canaries away. Rolling convulsively onto his back, Xander found Faith's curving lips inches away from his own, coffee-golden colored eyes boring into his with lust dilated pupils. One of Faith's hands worked down between them and her head pulled back a tiny bit as a puzzled frown creased her brow. The brow lines deepened and a frustrated whine came from her throat as her fingers worked futilely against the fabric of his jeans, Xander twitching with them. Shaking her head, she nipped at his nose gently, her hips thrusting her moving hand against him. Her head lowered and another one of those rumbling growls came out of her she bent her head down and nuzzled his neck firmly, her lips seeming fire hot as she gently bit down on his shoulder.

That treacherous _thing_ somewhere inside came up again, whispering, '_Mate. Mine. __Now__!'_ into his mind's ear...

"Gah!" Dredging reserves up from somewhere, Xander brought his hands up between them to push Faith off. Something rounded, firm, and extremely soft filled one palm and he froze, a vivid tactile memory of waking up in an awkward position at the pool house one morning flooding through his brain. His mind supplied the exact shape and texture of Faith's breast, compared it against current stimuli, and went, _'Yup. That's it, that's a Faith tit,'_ as his fingers twitched in an unconscious - _hopefully_ unconscious - grasping motion. Faith's eyes slid half closed and she threw her head back, her neck arching as the rumbling sound intensified into a hoarse moan along with the grinding movement of her hips. Xander yanked his hand away like it was on fire and shoved with all of his strength against Faith's shoulders while bucking his hips upward. He didn't stop to register surprise as she flew off of him, only scrambled to his feet and fled through the archway.

The empty, frustrated, _hungry_ look behind her eyes stayed with him all the way to the kitchen island until Faith grabbed him from behind and threw him on top of it.

Coming up to crouch over him with an almost effortless looking leap, Faith brought her fingers raking down his chest, ripping open his shirt. Her gold-brown eyes were fixed on his intently, glowing with a kind of deep and empty hunger that was frankly just a bit _too_ disturbing, even for Xander's high weirdness threshold. A memory of the intoxicating fear in Buffy's eyes and scent, mixed with arousal, assaulted his mind and he froze, suddenly, finally, _truly_ understanding _just_ what it was that he'd done to her that day before Buffy clocked him with that desk. He had a sudden sympathy for the Willow-shocked Oz...

Faith mewled softly in her throat with a plaintive and oddly heartrending sound, panting over him. Xander brought his hand up, running his fingertips along her face to cup her cheek in his palm. Her eyes closing, she turned her face into his hand, moving her cheek and lips urgently against his palm.

"Sorry," he whispered. "I'm _so_ very sorry you're trapped in there like this." Faith froze momentarily, tilting her head while looking down at him, her eyes suddenly moist almost as if she'd understood the words.

"Sorry," he whispered again as he brought the stiffened fingers of his other hand up into her diaphragm while grabbing and shoving her shoulder to the side and twisting underneath her. Faith squalled like an angry movie cougar as she rolled off of him and thumped to the parquet floor between the island and the refrigerator, looking startled. Her flailing right hand snagged his belt, almost claw like, and he went over with her, landing on his feet with a wrenching thump that drew a sharp hiss from him as his vamp kicked hip twisted. Faith shook herself, starting to rise to one knee and the fingertips of her other hand and Xander stepped and reached to grab the top edge and back of the refrigerator, torquing it forward with every remaining ounce of his strength.

He scrambled to one side, falling backwards to catch himself against a counter as the fridge toppled over to pin a half risen Faith between itself and the center island. She went down with a pitiful keening sound as it slammed into her torso. Her eyes wide and shocked, they suddenly narrowed as she twisted her head to look at him, hissing at Xander from the back of her throat with a menacing note that made his blood run cold.

"Sorry," he said again, pushing himself upright from the counter edge. His eyes widening, that voice piped up again from the back of his mind saying, _'Good going - she's not horny any longer... ' _Putting a hand out in a soothing gesture, Xander murmured, "Um... good kitty?"

Spitting out snarling sounds, with a grunt of effort, Faith began to push herself, and the fridge up, trying to lever it away from her. At that moment, Xander decided that the tried and true tactic of 'regroup and rearm' applied here - his mind's eye vividly supplied him with a memory of Faith hoisting a weight bar carrying a full set and a half of weights. _Way_ past time to cut his losses... With a final desperate look at her, he turned tail and ran, leaving her struggling beneath the appliance. He pelted out of Hideyoshi's house and down the road at a dead run, not even conscious of his throbbing hip until he fell leaning against a telephone pole several blocks away, drawing in huge, ragged gulps of breath.

He _swore_ to himself that it was only the jarring pain there that was making his eyes begin to water. And only the shortness of breath making his chest ache.

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	14. Chapter 13: My Eyes Are Not Accustomed

**Chapter 13: Besides,**** My Eyes Are Not Accustomed to This Light**** -**

_**Thursday September 17, 1998; Sunnydale High School Library, noonish.**_

Lunch at the library was a pretty tense affair, or at least, it would have been a 'lunch' if there were anything to eat besides leftover donuts. As it was, sans food, Jonathan was honestly debating with himself whether it really counted as lunch at all. It was just 'tense', past and present. The mental pun wasn't quite as cheering as he'd thought it'd be... Jonathan settled back at one of the round tables, looking over a few pieces of occult literature that seemed to have narrowed the playing field a little, while Giles worked hi sway through other possibilities. However, Jonathan's own broad knowledge base left a lot of holes specific to this kind of situation. He wasn't even sure half the stuff in this book was real.

He was definitely sure he didn't _want_ it to be.

"Hmm." Jonathan's eyes narrowed as a thought struck him. He approached it carefully, trying not to frighten it.

"Hmm?" Giles glanced up from his own research, giving Jonathan a sharp look.

"Just... " Jonathan shook his head, making a vague gesture at the various magical and demonic encyclopedias. "What if we're looking in the wrong places entirely?"

Raising an eyebrow in what was possibly one of the first serious considerations Giles had given him, the librarian closed his volume while using a finger to mark his place. Regarding Jonathan with interest, he said, "Do continue, please."

"Well, uh," Jonathan made a frustrated gesture at the books. "We're not finding anything that matches here. And I know you're aware of that," he added hastily, "So, what if instead of spellcraft or demon effects, maybe we should be looking at mythology?"

"Hmm." Giles' expression took on an abstracted mien. Reaching up to adjust his glasses, he peered at Jonathan over the frame tops. "You've captured my interest. Can you elaborate?"

"Uh. Maybe?" Drumming his fingers on the tabletop briefly, Jonathan blew out his breath and gathered his thoughts. "Ok. We've got people who're acting in ways that are outside of their norms. A lot of the behavior we have sounds wild. I mean - Wild Kingdom wild, _not_ spring break wild. And there's always been beings in mythology that were able to kinda, uh, induce various types of behavior in mortals just by their aspects. You know, Bacchus, Dionysus, Pan, Mielikki... "

"Indeed. I am familiar with some of the legends," Giles nodded. His brow furrowed and he suggested, "I find myself rather hoping that we are dealing with a more mundane supernatural explanation, as it were, than an aspect of some of the possibilities you've mentioned." His voice taking on a dry tone, he said, "I rather do not fancy having to deal with one of the Greek or Roman deities."

"Hah!" Jonathan shook his head, feeling an urge to break out in hysterical laughter. "Oh, yeah. Me too."

"Quite." Giles favored him with a small grin. "However- " Giles broke off and looked over when the main door banged open and Oz burst in looking slightly panicked.

Jonathan brightened a little. "Hey Oz," he asked. "You get drafted too?"

Oz threw a quick look around the library, and leaned against the juncture of the main doors, his palms flat against them. "Less talk," he stated in a strained voice. "More with the door holding."

"Holding..." Jonathan managed before the doors exploded inward. He watched with wide eyed and morbid fascination as Willow, Aura, and Cordelia surged into the room as Oz was knocked aside as if he weighed nothing. It wasn't even really the obviously insane strength they exhibited. It was the way they moved...

Willow burst in hunched forward, her clawed hands resting on their knuckles as she slid to a stop, knees bent. Her green eyes were flashing and her hair was wild, almost bristling forward on her scalp. She bared her teeth at Jonathan in a kind of demonic smirk he'd never seen on Willow Rosenberg before in his life, her lips peeled back from her teeth. Aura was just as odd, bouncing in excitedly on all fours as well, and alternating between excited, high pitched coughing sounds and growling like some kind of dog.

By far the oddest was Cordelia, though she was still upright. She moved in a fluid and jerky way all at the same time, elbows akimbo as if her arms weren't _quite_ under her control the way they might be in someone else. Hopping up to crouch on a table top, she cocked her head in a precise movement as she regarded Oz with cold eyes.

Mr. Hideyoshi strode in behind them as they swept into the room, Hideyoshi closing the door behind them. He cut an odd figure, somehow looking less weathered than he had earlier, even a few days ago. His hair had almost no silver in it any more, and Jonathan was struck by how different - much younger - he looked than the picture in the older files.

"Fascinating," Hideyoshi said. He looked at Oz and Jonathan. "It's a shame that you've proven to be so astute. It is also a shame that your young associate wasn't as swift to act as you were in deducing a need to send her to my home."

_'Oh crap,'_ Jonathan thought, his eyes widening, _'Harris was right - he __did__ take out Faith... '_ That was followed on the heels by, _'We are __so__ screwed.'_

Fixing his gaze on Oz, Hideyoshi added, "If your deductive skills were the equal of your test scores I possibly wouldn't be here right now. However, as it is, I am afraid you need to be removed before I can move on." He extended his hands, sickly yellow light glowing on them. The hackles raised on the back of Jonathan's neck as Hideyoshi swept his arms forward with a rumbling incantation in what must have been Japanese. Reacting purely on instinct, Jonathan threw himself sideways as Oz went the other direction. The bolt of crackling light missed him, but only barely.

As Willow bounded forward to pounce at Oz, shrieking, Jonathan wracked his brain, frantically trying to sort through the various things he'd gleaned from his own magical researches. Only one thing came to his mind and he wasn't sure if it'd even work, but he began reciting his own spell anyway, this one in Greek, while tracing a sigil in the air between him and Hideyoshi.

The Asian biology teacher suddenly screwed up his face and let out a tremendous sneeze. Jonathan blinked as the glow faded from Hideyoshi's hands and the sneezing fit intensified. He had all of ten seconds to feel superior when Aura crashed into him in a headlong charge. She didn't _weigh_ terribly much, but she was moving _very_ fast.

In any other situation, having an attractive girl straddling him would have caused him to check and see if he'd died and gone to heaven. However, at the moment, the pain and the fact that Aura looked like she might actually bite his face off were putting any amorous thoughts on near-permanent hold. Growling, she lunged into him, snapping, and Jonathan barely got his arm up between them. Aura's jaws closed on his sleeve and he was jerked about as she twisted and yanked with her head, neck, and upper body at the material.

Then Aura was suddenly gone from on top of him. Dazedly, he looked up to see Mr. Giles clutching... a 'Webster's Oxford Unabridged Edition'? As Jonathan's mind tried to process this, another fully functional aspect of his brain noted that Giles must have hit Aura with the flat of the heavy, hardbound volume.

"I believe we should make our exit, post haste," Giles said, giving the still allergenic Hideyoshi a very, very cold stare. In fact, his eyes reminded Jonathan uncomfortably of Jack O'Toole's. Mr. Giles looked like he wanted to _hurt_ Mr. Hideyoshi, and keep hurting him for a very long time. Giles looked down at Jonathan's dumbstruck form and narrowed those icily angry eyes.

"Mr. Levinson, if you would be so kind as to _move?_" Giles grated out. "_Now__,_ please_._"

Aura slunk away, making whining sounds, and he noticed that some time during the struggle, Cordelia must have hopped off the table. She crouched near Hideyoshi's feet between Giles and the teacher, head and neck extended and making a weird 'chok chok chok' sound deep in her throat. As Jonathan hastily scrambled back to his feet, he saw Oz bring his feet up and shove Willow off of himself. With a peculiar expression, Oz shook his head slightly and brought his fist around in a short, hard arc to strike Willow on the jaw. She collapsed, the hideous shrieking noise she'd been making cutting off abruptly. Oz came up looking a bit battered, but otherwise okay.

The look Oz sent in Hideyoshi's direction was murderous in its intensity.

Without waiting for further instructions, Jonathan sprinted for the stacks doors. He tore it open and pelted down the open courtyard. Looking over his shoulder to Giles and Oz keeping pace behind him, he shouted out, "What the heck was _that_?"

"Why we were worried," Oz said, his voice betraying more emotions than Jonathan had ever heard him express.

"Oh," Jonathan muttered as Giles took the lead, striking out towards the parking lot. "Holy crap."

"Yup," Oz said, visibly calming down. With a sidelong glance at Jonathan, he added mildly, "In a nutshell."

In contrast to his again relaxed demeanor, the guitarist's eyes were still bleak, and as cold as the wind over a glacier. Jonathan shivered and refused to meet them again even after they were settled into Oz's van..

**................................................**

_**Thursday September 17, 1998; Sunnydale High School, noonish.**_

"Oh boy."

Puffing to a halt, Xander felt a relieved grin spread across his face as the front doors of Sunnydale High came into view. Relieved grin. Sunnydale High. Now _that's_ two great tastes that don't normally go great together. Taking a deep breath, he bent over wincing as he rubbed at his hip. The long run from Hideyoshi's house back to the school hadn't done a lot good for the re-stressed vamp injury. Nor had running with one eye cast over his shoulder in fear that Feral Faith might have taken it into her head to follow after him, rumbling deep in her chest, once she'd shoved the refrigerator off of her.

Probably with a cheerfully maniacal Harmony bobbing and cackling right along side.

Half way up the steps to the main doors, Xander froze, one foot still raised over a step. Framed inside of the just opened doors above him, a sour looking Hideyoshi was in the process of stepping outside, flanked by a very strange looking Cordelia, Willow, and Aura. Strange even by _today's_ standards of strangeness.

"Oh, boy... "

Her red hair bristling atop her head, Willow spotted him and dropped to her toes and knuckles, a harsh sound coming from her throat. Cordelia cocked her head, then lowered slightly with her arms spread while making a deep, odd, 'chok chok chok!' sound.

Xander didn't even wait to see what Hideyoshi and Aura did. Still with a broad grin frozen on his face and his foot in the air, he spun on the other foot, put the raised one down - and bolted full speed back down the stairs. Hitting the bottom step, he snagged the end of the railing with an old skate boarder's reflexes and spun around it, heading full speed along the front towards the side parking lot and side courtyards.

Not far enough behind him he could hear a madly barking Willow and a yipping Aura pounding along in chase. He put his feet down faster, head down and arms pumping.

Managing to pull ahead of the girls, assuming they were still girls, he ducked into the side courtyard and headed for the door into the library stacks. Barely slowing, he yanked open the door and flung himself inside, racing across the short stretch of floor and bypassing the short staircase to jump directly down to the main level.

"Giles! Giles!" Halfway to the front counter, the complete lack of people in the library registered on him and he realized - belatedly - that Hideyoshi and his entourage must've been coming _from_ the library. Meaning that Giles, Oz, and whoever else had been here had already fled. Or been eaten...

No blood. No Giles popping out of the office, either.

The stacks door opened just after the brief period it had taken Xander to register and process all of that, and he spun again and shoved his way out through the main doors without looking behind him. Out in the hallway, he threw a fast, panicked glance around and headed for the back of the school and the lunchroom. _'Crowds,'_ he thought, slowing down to a fast limp. _'Maybe I can lose them in crowds.'_

A door slamming open and startled exclamations from students behind him told him that 'slow' just stopped being an option. Drawing in a deep, ragged gulp of fresh air, he put another burst of speed on and shot away down the hall. Crashes, screams, shrieks, clatters, startled expressions, and the sounds of tables being shoved aside followed him through the lunchroom and cafeteria. He almost wished he had a camera and enough time to enjoy it.

Bursting through the rear doors of the lunchroom, he stormed into the Quad having gained at least a _bit_ of a lead on his former friend and pursuers. He was halfway across the Quad heading for the exits leading to the tennis and basketball courts, sports fields, and rear parking lots when shouts to his rear announced that the trio of girls had made it through the lunchroom. Xander thought he just _might_ have enough of a lead to lose the girls by ducking through the girl's basketball court and out the other side parking lot. Maybe circling back around afterwards and into the school to find an empty classroom to hide in.

Hide, dig out the pre-paid that Cordelia had sprung for at some point that was now seeming like a _long_ time back, and shout for help. And hope that Hideyoshi and the possessed girls didn't find and dig him out while he was shouting...

About that time a trio of all too familiar looking goons unfolded from benches near the end of the Quad and he groaned internally. He didn't have the breath to do it out loud.

"Harris!" The shout drew eyes from around the Quad, even from people following the progress of the bizarrely acting Willow, Cordelia, and Aura. "You're _dead_, geek."

Stutter stepping, Xander managed to slow just enough to throw a fast glance over one shoulder and see that the three girls had closed part of his hard won lead. He thanked whatever gods watched over idiots that Hideyoshi had left Faith at his house - the brunette would have run him down long ago. And probably then have had her way with him on the lunchroom floor with Harmony screeching encouragement.

Whipping his head back to the front, Xander saw that he'd also closed part of the lead between himself, Jack, and Jack's two buddies. Unfortunately. He put his head down, dropped a shoulder, and barreled on, seeing Jack's eyes widen as it dawned on him - too late - that Xander wasn't slowing. Crazily, _'Revenge is mine, oh yes it is,'_ went through his mind...

Onlookers in the Quad that day would speak in hushed tones for weeks after of the day that Xander Harris pelted across the Quad with his girlfriend, best friend, and a Cordette in hot pursuit, leaving a trail of chaos behind them. Even more reverent - and disbelieving tones - would describe how he dropped a shoulder and nailed Jack O'Toole in the mid section with a line backer rush that would have made Larry Blaisdell proud, dropping him like a sack of potatoes and scattering Parker and Dickie like startled bowling pins. And then barreled on without slowing, leaving a prone, doubled over, and groaning O'Toole in his wake and disappearing out the side-rear Quad archway.

The onlookers would take on tones of true awe upon describing how Cordelia Chase, Aura Breckenridge, and an unusually well dressed Willow Rosenberg crashed into an astounded Jack, Dickie, and Parker from behind - Dickie and Parker being turned to look after the disappearing Xander Harris - and thoroughly mauling them. At least among the chess and math club contingent, the awe turned maliciously gleeful on describing how Cordelia landed on a supine O'Toole with her stylish heels and stomped him bloody. Beating him fiercely with her knees and elbows, apparently using some strange martial art form, the cheerleader nearly sent O'Toole to the school infirmary while Aura and Willow grappled down and savaged the other two before the senior biology teacher arrived to calm them and lead them away.

Xander was aware of none of this except for the fading shouts, shrieks, and screams of pain as he turned from the Quad archway towards the side parking lot, leaving consternation in his wake.

He managed to get halfway across the parking lot before a zebra striped van pulled up to the curb on the side street ahead of him. Heaving a sigh of relief, he slowed to a fast limp as a white faced Jonathan slid the side door open, shouting, "Get in! Hurry!"

Collapsing into the open side door, Xander shook his head dazedly as Jonathan tugged at him, pulling him all the way in so he could slide the doors shut. Oz took off as a disheveled Willow, Aura, and Cordelia exited the Quad with Hideyoshi, heading for the side lots on Xander's trail.

"Man. You guys are _never_ gonna _believe_ the day I've had... "

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	15. Chapter 14: My Shoes are Not Accustomed

**Chapter 14: (****And) My Shoes are Not Accustomed to This Hard Concrete -**

_**Thursday September 17, 1998; Sunnydale High School Library, mid-late afternoon.**_

They were ensconced back at the library again, Oz having pulled his van into a position where they could watch Hideyoshi's van without being observed. Once the teacher had led the gaggle of ensorcelled girls out to his vehicle and driven off, the group had decided that he would possibly head to the Shop before returning to his home - operating on the assumption that Hideyoshi _might_ be able to draw information about the others from Cordelia.

They'd waited a good hour or so before deciding that the teacher and girls weren't returning right away. Hopefully, that would give them time to finish their research and, again hopefully, figure out something to _do_ about the situation.

_'In theory, there is no difference between theory and practice,'_ Jonathan reflected. _'In practice, there is.'_ That was a depressing line of thought that he curtailed as fast as possible. He didn't figure that the grim and disheveled looking Xander, the drawn looking Oz, or the extremely disquieted looking Giles would appreciate the quote.

Well, Mr. Giles might, but Jonathan had the idea it would be in a sour appreciation of the gallows humor inherent in it. Xander might stare at him incredulously or punch him - he wouldn't care to bet on which right at the moment.

"You should have seen her, Giles," Xander was saying. He'd just finished a more extensive account of his day from leaving to attempt to rescue Faith than he'd managed in the van. The description of his encounter with Faith and Harmony at Hideyoshi's, and his subsequent encounter and escape from the teacher and the transformed girls at the school that emerged was an admixture of two parts horror and one part macabre humor. A pensive looking Giles had quietly interjected probing questions at various points, drawing out details when needed, with a skill that Jonathan thought wouldn't be out of place in an FBI interrogator.

Well, _some_ details, anyway: Xander's eyes shifted and his jaw took on a peculiarly set look at points in his story that suggested strongly that there were elements of his Faith encounter he was leaving out. Some pretty _large_ details, if Jonathan was judging correctly. Apparently Giles wasn't oblivious to that either, but he moved his questions past those points with a quiet delicacy that surprised Jonathan.

"Judging by your account, Xander, I'm certain I would have found the experience equally disturbing," Giles said in a gentle voice. "In fact, I found our own brief encounter to be most disquieting." Removing his glasses and setting them on the table, he rubbed tiredly at the bridge of his nose before fixing Xander with a steady gaze. "Escaping from an aggressive and be-spelled Slayer, and then from our adversaries of this afternoon, not the easiest of tasks, I must say. Your methods were quite resourceful - you are to be commended."

"Heh. More like 'blind panic', Giles." Xander shook his head. "I'm just lucky Faith wanted to," judging by his expression and the way his eyes clouded, Xander changed phrasing in mid-statement so smoothly Jonathan almost missed it, "to play with me first."

"Yes, well," Giles replaced his glasses and stood smoothly from the table. Gripping Xander's shoulder in a reassuring clasp, he turned towards the stacks, finishing with, "There is always an element of good fortune present in combat situations. Being able to seize upon it when it is presented to one is what's commendable."

Giles disappeared into the stacks briefly, returning with yet another armload of mythology references. They were currently engaged in following up on Jonathan's earlier insight into the possibilities of some connection other than demonology or sorcery. Oz sat at the library computer while Jonathan paged through various references, looking into various myths and classical legends for similarities. While searching, he surreptitiously studied the taller teen. In all the years that he'd known Xander Harris, Jonathan couldn't remember ever _seeing_ a serious expression on his face, much less the grim one he was currently wearing. And those eyes... with a slight shock, Jonathan's mind supplied a memory from watching numerous History Channel documentaries over the years. You saw eyes like that in camera views of guys who'd just come out of active combat zones.

Jonathan decided he _really_ didn't want to know what sorts of things would give a seventeen to eighteen year old class clown the eyes of a combat veteran. And he was afraid he was going to find out.

Without quite realizing he was speaking - he hadn't intended to - Jonathan met Xander's eyes across the table. "Faith," he blurted out. Xander's gaze jerked to his and he started, his eyebrows lifting quizzically. "She's... " Jonathan spread his hands slightly, unable to quite put into words what he was trying to say. "Something else. Cordelia too," he added.

"Gonna go out on a limb and say Faith made an impression." Xander studied him for a long enough moment that Jonathan hunched slightly, before the corner of his mouth lifted in a half grin. "Slight case of hero worship with a side order of massive crushing?"

"Uh... " Jonathan blinked. Xander studied him a moment longer, nodding.

"For me it was Buffy," Xander stated, quietly. He nodded, a look of mutual understanding flowing between the two of them.

"Not Faith?" Jonathan frowned.

"Faith... " Xander's eyebrows drew down slightly and he shook his head. "She's... something different. Too real." His lips quirked, twitching into something like his normal half grin. "And Cordy's... a different kind of worship entirely."

"My uncle was pretty real. And he was a hero," Jonathan remarked. At Xander's raised eyebrow, he said, "Oil well firefighter. Gulf War."

"We'll get them back," Oz said, quietly breaking the too intense moment. "Have to," he added, a slight smile ghosting across his lips. Both of the other boys nodded.

"This has _got_ to be really screwed for them," Xander said. "Especially if they're conscious of what's going on like... " he trailed off with an odd look on his face. Shrugging slightly, he glanced at Oz, ending with, "Been there, you know?"

"Just by rumor," Oz acknowledged. "But yeah. Except, not like that for me." The look he met Xander's with was equal parts wryness and discomfort.

Jonathan pursed his lips, wondering, but he decided it was probably better not to ask. The moment of communication between the two seemed too private and too personal to interrupt.

"So, Giles," Xander looked over to the librarian. "Another Primal mage?"

"Hmm." Giles frowned slightly, turning a page while reading. "While it does have similar elements, there's a certain lack of conformity to the transformations that suggests otherwise."

"We started thinking about other transformation myths," Jonathan supplied. A frown crossed his brow as well, "But I'm not finding anything that really matches exactly, either. Mielikki, Ki, Arduinna, Hecate - none of those have a really broad based range of effects associated with any of their curses in mythology. Not subtle either." In response to Xander's inquiring look, he elaborated, "If, let's say, Pan or Cerrunos were walking the halls here, _everyone_ would notice all of the students and teachers going bestial at once. _Nothing_ slow or subtle about the process, in some legends."

Xander shook his head, a rueful grin crossing his lips. "_Never_ underestimate the power of Sunnydale denial syndrome, Jonathan."

"Ok, so," Oz leaned back in his chair and looked over. "What _do_ we have?"

"Huh. Ok... Faith was acting like a big cat, kinda," Xander stated. "All rumbly and pouncing. And Harmony acted like one of those big blue and yellow zoo parrots."

Jonathan was struck by the mental image and an involuntary bark of laughter came out of him. Xander scowled before a reluctant grin slid over his lips. "And yeah, the bird brain comment ran through my head too," Xander admitted.

"Presenting." Oz crossed his arms, looking pensive. "Throwing food, chattering, bristling and bouncing... monkey like."

"Ok, yeah. And Aura went for me like one of those little dogs," Jonathan said, nodding. "And from what you guys said, she's been desperate for attention and approval like a neurotic pekingese."

"Cordelia?" Xander frowned, glancing from one to the other of them with a raised eyebrow.

Giles pursed his lips slightly. "Hmm. While I haven't had the opportunities to observe her that you have, her threat display here in the library was suggestive of one of the various game bird breeds when cornered." When Xander and Jonathan looked at him, he shrugged. "I have been exposed to pheasant keeping and game keepers at various estates in Britain."

"So... " Oz's eyes went distant for a moment. "Circe," he suggested. Turning back to his keyboard, he began clicking at it, presumably pulling up reference pages.

"Huh." Jonathan's forehead creased, and did Giles. Removing his glasses again, Giles began polishing them with a thoughtful expression.

"Men to pigs?" Xander's expression was puzzled.

Jonathan shook his head. "Kind of a popular concept of it. Circe turned men into animals resembling their base natures: Odysseus' crew became pigs because that's what they were acting like. Her other captives became animals that matched whatever characteristics they had." Something went click in Jonathan's mind as a connection between what he'd been reading about Primal magic, Xander's comment, and the rumors surrounding Principal Flutie's death of a couple of years ago, and he swallowed hard. Oh. Maybe skipping lunch wasn't such a bad thing...

Xander shrugged, saying, "I just saw the movie a long time ago."

"I seem to recall," Giles remarked, "That Circe used a combination of potions and a wand - or staff - to effect her transformations."

"Nothing like that you've seen?" Jonathan asked. Oz and Xander shook their heads, frowning.

"Huh. Hideyoshi does come out of the back storeroom to begin classes a lot," Xander said after awhile. "No wand or anything, though."

"Just remembered. He passed out the quiz results that first day," Oz stated. Glancing at Giles he added, "Remembering what you told Faith about the taste testing."

Ok, yet another thing for Jonathan to wonder at. He decided he was going to need a crash course in the group's shorthand. He hoped he'd live long enough to learn 'cryptic'.

"Hmm." Giles nodded. "A catalyst agent could be applied to selected papers to enhance the mystical element, and be absorbed by touch, yes. Excellent observation." Oz accepted the acknowledgment with a slight incline of his head, Xander with a less restrained half grin. Giles added, "That still leaves us without an item for that element, presuming that we are on the right track in linking Hideyoshi's talent to a possible source element of the Circe legendry."

"Could be anything," Jonathan blurted out as a thought struck him. "Doesn't have to be a wand: jewelry, favorite pen, laser pointer - anything like that."

"Huh." Oz's eyebrows drew together. "He fiddles with his cuff links a lot in class," he remarked.

Xander nodded slowly. "It'd explain why you, me, and Heidi got so agitated."

"Beast within reacting?" Oz's raised eyebrow would have been eloquent if Jonathan knew the language. Judging by Giles slightly puzzled expression, he was lagging a bit behind in the translation as well.

"Can't picture Faith taking food from him when he caught her," Xander said.

"Possibly the effect _could_ be induced by a brute force effort if needed, albeit with less finesse than via using an initial catalyst," Giles suggested. "Hmm. It may be possible to use a spell to locate any mystical items he has on his person, perhaps causing it to flash visibly or some similar reactive effect."

"And one of us can take it away when we spot it," Xander said. "Smash it."

"Quite." Peering at the two over the tops of his glasses, Giles remarked, "If I've translated your and Oz's remarks correctly, that may also explain why the other girl wasn't affected. Traces of her former possession may have acted to leave her with both a resistance and a sensitivity to the effect, as well as accounting for your mutual, unfocused unease."

Xander and Oz nodded slowly, both of them looking disturbed. "Should have been a bigger clue," Oz allowed.

With a look at Jonathan, Giles said, "I believe that your knowledge of magic may prove useful, Mr. Levinson. If you would assist me, we can work at narrowing down a specific incantation that would serve the intended purpose while also being simple enough to be useful in a combat situation, as it were."

"Combat with a possessed Faith," Xander said, making a face. "Hideyoshi's got us outnumbered." He stood abruptly and disappeared into Giles' office, returning a few moments later with a pair of tranquilizer dart rifles and a small case. Startled by the sight of the weapons, Jonathan threw a quick, panicked look at the main doors, almost expecting Snyder to walk in and bust them. The nonchalant attitudes of the others to Xander's activity shocked him even more.

"Excellent thinking," Giles remarked. "Once Mr. Levinson and I have located a suitable incantation, Oz can make a quick shopping trip if we require any components we do not currently have, and we can finalize a strategy."

"Less talk, more spell looking up-age," Xander said, his eyes dark. "Hideyoshi _might_ be disposing of the girls while we're researching."

**................................................**

_**Thursday September 17, 1998; Los Angeles, Helen's diner, mid-late afternoon.**_

"Anne! Booth, single, your section," Janice called out.

"On it, thanks," Buffy called back. Putting her current ticket on the spindle at the cook's window, she snagged her order pad out of her apron, removing the pen as she headed out past the registers.

Her good mood was still holding, interestingly enough. Not even Doyle's mid-vision visit to her door step had managed to really put a serious dent in it. When she wasn't busily being actively ticked off at him, the little Irish half-demon could be surprisingly charming in a smarmy, annoying sort of way. And despite his protestations of not being anywhere near made out of hero material, he could handle a stake competently enough.

Between them they'd managed to take out the half dozen-plus vamps in time to keep the small group of college kids they'd dragged back to their lair from becoming snackage. Buffy's threat to stake Doyle had come out somewhat half hearted, and he'd taken her strongly repeated suggestion to go look up Gunn and bug _him_ with reasonably good cheer: grumbling about it only half snarkily.

Whistling slightly to herself, she whirled around, not truly noticing who had sat down in the booth she'd been directed to.

"Welcome to Helen's," she said with a smile, not looking up from her pad. "My name is Anne, and I'll be your server tonight. Would you like something to drink?"

"A water and a Guinness if you be having it," an annoyingly familiar voice spoke out. Her head jerked up and she looked right into Doyle's blue eyes that were meeting her own with a disturbing intensity.

"Sorry," she said, feeling her good mood souring slightly. "No liquor license."

"More's the pity it is," Doyle said with a look of genuine regret.

"Look, I _thought_ we settled this last night. _Again_." Buffy said with a scowl. "If you're here to feed me more of the same cruddy speil about Champions yatta yatta, I'm gonna give you the same answer that I gave you last night. Only with new and _improved_ violence."

"And here and I _was_ thinking we were getting along so much better now," Doyle said with a slight smirk, his eyes twinkling. "It was almost seeming you were enjoying rescuing those college lads and their lassies."

Sighing, Buffy nodded reluctantly. "Ok, that was not so much of the bad, I'll give you that." Raising an eyebrow, she glared at him skeptically. "So, ok. Lay it on me. Give me the usual drivel so I can turn you down - _again_ - and take your order."

"No, no - not being the usual at all," Doyle said, his expression absolutely serious now. She had never seen the normally jovial little man look so completely grim. "I'm assuring you, miss, I know this Powers stuff tends to come off sanctimonious and overblown, but I have to be telling you, this time it's dead serious."

"This had better be good," Buffy muttered. Doyle's completely chilling smile made a good chunk of her indignation fade away, against her will.

"Oh, 'good''s not being the word _I'd_ use, now." Doyle leaned back in the booth. "This one looks big. Very big. And it's being nasty it is. Else I woulda' left you alone like I said I would. _This'll_ be an end of the world type thing, I'm feeling - the type o' thing that Gunn fellow you keep aiming me at isn't quite up to handling."

"All right," Buffy growled. "Less build up, more talky." She made a moving it on gesture with her free hand.

Doyle spread his hands on the table top, looking uncomfortable. "It's bad enough it might spill out far enough to be catching up your friend and his little one, even."

"Low blow," Buffy growled. "So, just how long _were_ you stalking me before I caught you at it?"

"No no - nothing like that," Doyle's eyes widened in alarm. "It was the visions; I saw you and them together in 'em, that's all. Seriously."

Unfortunately, one of her gifts was that she had always had a vivid imagination. The image of Elena's broken little body laying over a still Pike flashed through her mind with an intensity that she normally only felt with Slayer dreams. She wobbled for a second, putting her hand to her forehead.

"You alright?" Doyle asked, genuine concern making its way through his stony expression. She shook her head to clear away the brief flash of pain. Raising her head she looked him straight in the eye.

"Great," Buffy said, deflating a little. "Alright. I'll talk to you about it. Come by the apartment tomorrow morning before I have to get ready for work. I'll be there. But no nonsense; or you and Mr. Pointy get really _nicely_ acquainted. Got it?"

"Clear as a Belfast morning," Doyle said with a dark smirk. "Minus the explosions. Well, seeing as how this wonderful establishment doesn't have the liquid nourishment I'd be liking, I'll be takin' my leave now."

"Ok, so why is it that every time my life starts going well, you or some other demons barge in and mess it up?" Buffy grimaced at him.

Doyle said nothing in reply as she watched him go, her order pad clutched loosely in her hand. It was only after she saw the owner approaching with an extremely irritated expression that she realized that she was going to get it for 'driving off a perfectly good customer'. Janice shook her head, giving Buffy a half pitying, half aggravated look as the owner bustled over. Cursing Irishmen in her mind as she gave her best 'I'll be better next time' smile to the owner, she fumed in private.

Damned Irishman. And everything had been going so well again. Briefly.

**................................................**

_**Thursday September 17, 1998; Sunnydale High School Library, late afternoon.**_

"Ok, this might do," Jonathan said. He pushed the grimoire over to Giles, leaning back tiredly to rub at his eyes while the librarian perused the spell description.

Over at the computer, Oz and Xander were engaged in an examination of the floor plans of Hideyoshi's house that Oz had pulled up, Xander carefully pointing out areas where the actual house differed from the architect's layouts. They'd been involved in a fairly intense, quiet strategy discussion for the past hour while Giles and Jonathan had been engaged in magical researches.

He hoped that his analysis of the incantation was accurate: it was more than frustrating having gone through this process numerous times already, only to have to discard options as requiring too many components, being too time consuming, or needing elaborate ritual circles they wouldn't have time to inscribe in combat.

'In combat'. That was a freaky thought in and of itself. Jonathan's own minor dabblings into the mystical arts hadn't really considered the fact that there were times when you just wouldn't _have_ the time for elaborate ritual and preparation.

"Hmm." Giles nodded after reading through the pages a second time. "I _do_ believe you are correct. The actual spell effect seems to be engendered via the chant and gestures - the accompanying mystical inscriptions would appear to be mere embellishments that can be discarded."

"Good." Jonathan nodded with unfaked enthusiasm.

Giles gave him a curious look. "I must say: the impromptu spell you used against Hideyoshi was interesting. I don't believe I recall that from any witchcraft or sorcerous traditions I am familiar with."

"Uh. Not witchcraft," Jonathan stated. "It was a minor Hermetic cantrip combined with a Kabbalistic sigil. Only thing I could think of at the time."

"Fascinating. And quite efficacious," Giles remarked. He fixed Jonathan with the first non-disapproval tinged regard that Jonathan could remember receiving from him. "While I still have reservations about my Slayer and the others drawing you into this, it does occur that you bring a possibly much needed alternative perspective to our mix of talents."

"Got something?" Oz's laconic query interrupted the discussion.

"We believe so, yes," Giles stated. "Now to begin integrating it into a strategy." Last bell punctuated his statement, causing Jonathan to twitch, startled, as he realized that they'd spent the entire remaining school day at this process.

"Too bad we didn't put all this together yesterday," Xander remarked, ignoring the bell. His voice sounded ragged. "I should've gone with Faith to check the place out, too."

"While I can understand the temptation to berate oneself in hindsight," Giles said, gently. "You may wish to consider that it's misplaced effort. Yesterday and the day before, we quite simply didn't have the required clues from which to sort the proper conclusions from the myriad possibilities."

"You'd gone with Faith, we might have lost you too," Oz said, gripping Xander's shoulder.

"I find your lack of _Faith_ in me disturbing," Xander gave the smaller boy a startled look followed by a wry smirk. "Almost lost me anyway, later."

"Ok, so: we break the item when we find it... this going to release the spell on the girls?" Oz ignored the bad Star Wars pun to focus on the matter at hand.

"Possibly," Giles replied. "It _should_, at least." Laying his hand on a volume near the research pile, he added, "If it does not, I still have the transpossession rituals from our earlier situation to draw upon." His eyes went wintry for a moment. "Once we've _suitably_ disposed of Hideyoshi, that is." The inflection he placed on 'suitably' sent a chill down Jonathan's spine, causing him to again reappraise Giles as someone definitely in the 'do not piss off' category.

"Ok, what's of the next?" Xander asked.

The sound of the main library doors slamming open as a flustered looking Amy and Tamara barged in cut off Giles response. All of them looked up from the research table, startled, as the two girls stormed over to them.

"Ok, enough. We want to know just what the hell is going on with our friends," Tamara stated. "And what we're going to do about it."

"Ms. St. Marins," Giles began with a slightly nonplussed expression. "While I do appreciate your concerns, may I point out that this is hardly the best time for this discussion?"

"Should I make an appointment?" Tamara's glare cut through Giles' remonstration. She added, "Like maybe for _after_ our friends show up in the school newspaper's obit column?"

Jonathan was pretty sure that Xander and Oz's wince at Tamara's icy tone was reflected in his own expression.

Amy's lips quirked up at the corners as Giles spluttered. "May as well spill, Mr. Giles. I already told her about last Valentine's Day," she remarked, "And about my mother. She's as 'in the know' on magic as anyone here, now."

"I'll refrain from suggesting that there are _reasons_ we attempt to maintain some sort of discretion," Giles began, only to have Amy interrupt him this time.

"I must've missed the memo," Amy remarked. "Besides, _I_ didn't sign a non-disclosure agreement." In a more exasperated tone, she added, "I've been friends with Willow since at least the third grade, you guys. Even if you couldn't tell outsiders, it _didn't_ occur to you I might want to help? Or that a witch might be useful?"

"Can't be all _that_ secret," Tamara said, glancing over the others. "You let Jonathan in on it." She winked in his direction as Jonathan did his best to shrink into his chair before Giles turned that glare back on him.

"We think Mr. Hideyoshi has been casting some sort of spell on the girls, making them go all animal-like," Xander said, drawing Amy and Tamara's attention to him and off of Giles and Jonathan. Spreading his hands, he said, "We've been racking our brains working on how to break it and how to go about it."

"That wasn't so hard," Tamara nodded. "You just went back on my friends list, Harris. Thanks."

Xander met Giles' glare with a wince, throwing his hands up in an exasperated gesture. "We don't have _time_ for this, Giles. Crisis now. Argue with Tam and Amy tomorrow." After a long moment, Giles nodded, his expression becoming one of resignation. Turning back to Amy and Tamara, Xander said, "That's about it. We _think_ we maybe have a way to break it, but we're not sure."

"Pretty obvious it was something like that after the lunchroom Xander, Cordy, Will and Aura halftime show this afternoon." Amy sighed. "Ok, what do we do about it?"

**................................................**

_**Thursday September 17, 1998; Sunnydale High School parking lot, 3:30 P.M.**_

"Thought you had Detention?" Tor Hauer smirked as Heidi came up to the car and leaned against it tiredly.

"Yeah yeah," she blew a strand of hair out of her eyes, scowling. "Blame it on the Beastie Girls - got swept up in their Animal House remake in Bio. Worse: _they_ skipped out on detention."

"That'll learn ya," Tor grinned.

"Shouldn't complain, I guess," Heidi said. "Since Dickie and I were the only two there, Mrs. Waterson just marked us as showing and canceled it for the day. But we get a full ninety minutes tomorrow to make up."

"Still an early day, anyway." Tor glanced towards the front of the school as a car pulled into the side lot, watching idly as it came to a stop and the Senior Biology teacher got out and went around to the side. "Ok, that just can't be good."

Heidi followed his eyes, frowning as she watched Cordelia, Faith, Aura, Willow, and Harmony pile out of the side door of the mini-van, milling about the biology teacher. "Huh."

"Umm. Xan and the Monster Squad holed up in the library?" Tor's brow creased as Hideyoshi snapped what looked like a stout length of chain onto something around Faith's neck, then turned to the side entrance and began strolling towards it. The... pack, there wasn't any other good word for it... of girls fell in around him and the feline looking Slayer, moving oddly.

"Think so," Heidi nodded. "Usually are."

"Cool. Why don't you run over and warn them they might have incoming?" Tor straightened from the drivers side of the 'Cuda. "Go out the front while those are heading in through the stacks - I'll catch up."

"Why me?"

"You run faster," Tor said, grinning. Pulling a vicious looking Al Mar lock-blade out of his back pocket, he added, "I'm gonna do some creative auto shop."

Shaking her head, Heidi took a step out into the parking lot towards the side entrance. Glancing back over her shoulder, she remarked, "Thought we weren't the hero types?"

"Don't tell anyone. It'll ruin our reps," Tor replied. "We _can't_ let the Boss get trashed," he added, "It just wouldn't be cool." He came around the rear of the car as Heidi set off at a run for the school's front doors.

***********************************************


	16. Chapter 15: I Must Go Back to My Room

**Chapter 15: So I Must Go Back to My Room (and make this day complete) -**

_**Thursday September 17, 1998; Sunnydale High School Library, late afternoon.**_

Heidi's entrance through the main doors drew the attention of everyone as she slid to a halt, panting slightly. Giles rolled his eyes, tossing a pen over his shoulder and remarked, "Oh good lord," to no one in particular with an expression of resignation.

"Heidi?" Xander's eyebrows shot up as he half rose from his chair.

"Incoming, Boss," Heidi gasped out, pointing up to the stacks doors. "Time to move it or lose it."

"Hideyoshi." Xander said. More statement than question, he didn't need Heidi's nod to confirm it. He was already reaching for his school pack and the tranq guns as he got it anyway.

"And company, Xan," she said. "All three, plus Faith and Harmony."

Oz rose smoothly from his seat, picking the bag of spell components from the table. Giles, Jonathan, and Xander stood as well, gathering books and gear together with remarkable alacrity.

"You asked what we do about it?" Xander turned to Tamara and Amy with a wry, mirthless grin. "Running comes to mind." Eying the pair of dart rifles in his hands, he tossed one to Tamara with a raised eyebrow. "Know how to use one of these?"

She caught it out of the air with a startled expression, saying, "What is it?"

"Tranquilizer rifle," Oz stated.

"I'll improvise," she replied as she fell in alongside Amy as the others ran for the main doors ahead of them.

Coming to a brief stop in the cafeteria, Xander hit Giles with a worried look as the others paused near them. Pointing to the doors, Oz outlined an idea with terse phrases and he and Tamara quickly moved a couple of tables to temporarily block them from opening inwards.

"Where to, Giles?" Xander asked.

"Biology classroom," Oz suggested as they finished moving the last table. Pursing his lips, Giles nodded agreement.

"Hide in one of the classrooms near it and lure them in, then crash in on 'em," Xander amended. They fell in behind Giles as he led the way out the back of the cafeteria, heading for the stairs leading from the Quad up to the science classrooms on the third floor.

"Uh... how do we know they'll go there?" Jonathan asked, puffing a bit already from the short run.

"We don't," Giles said, pausing with his hand on the stairwell door handle. "In fact, being unable to locate us at the library, Hideyoshi _might_ expect us to have relocated to the Shop for the nonce and go there."

Heidi grinned at Xander. "They're not going away from here any time soon," she said. "Tor was going to slash Hideyoshi's tires before trying to catch up with us."

"Nasty. Me likes," Xander grinned back approvingly. "Ok, I'm having an idea," he said, "No, wait: I'm having a _plan_." Everyone looked to him expectantly. Quickly un-slinging his school pack, he dug a pair of the patrol walkie-talkies and ear pieces out, handing one to a startled Jonathan. "You know the school clock tower?" Jonathan nodded, and Xander turned him towards that direction with a hand on the smaller boy's shoulder. "Good - head up there and call out what they're doing - if they go back to the van or elsewhere. Scoot," he added, giving Jonathan a light push to get him started.

Handing the other set to Heidi, he added, "You up for some more running?"

"Umm... " taking the radio and ear piece, she raised an eyebrow. "What you got in mind, Boss?"

"First, _don't_ call me Boss," Xander said. "Second... " he quickly outlined his idea with a truly malevolent looking grin.

**................................................**

Listening to a harshly breathing Jonathan pass on Hideyoshi's current location, Heidi shook her head. "Got it. Remind me to kill Harris after this."

"Uh, ok," Jonathan sent back. "Uh, over."

"I heard that," came Xander's voice over the radio's ear piece.

"Meant for you to, _Boss_," Heidi said in a syrupy tone. "Get ready," she added, clicking off the send button.

Simple plan. Head to the second floor stairwell landing window nearest to wherever Hideyoshi and his pack gathered to plan their next move - in this case, the front stair tower by the side parking lot where Hideoyoshi had left his van. Stand there in the window until someone noticed her and attracted Hideyoshi's attention. Count on Hideyoshi's memory of seeing her and Tor at the edge of the front lot and adding two and two together to come up with them equaling his four sliced tires. And wait, tensely, before bolting so that Hideyoshi and the girls would pursue, but not so long that the viciously fast Faith would run her down. Make sure they saw her before she ducked into the biology lab where - hopefully - Tor would be hiding and waiting.

Piece of cake. The grin Heidi smothered was as malevolent as the one Xander had worn while laying out the idea. She stopped, outlined in the landing window, gazing down into the parking lot.

Jonathan's voice came over her ear piece again, the little geek sounding breathless but not quite panicked. "Ok, they found the van and Mr. Hideyoshi looks _pissed_."

"I see 'em," Heidi acknowledged. "Get ready to move once they come in after me." Jonathan sent back a shaky 'yeah. Over' and Heidi made note to revise her opinion of nerds upwards one of these days. Assuming she lived through this.

She watched the Asian teacher walk around the van, double checking all of the tires. Yup. Still flat, asshole. The restlessly moving Willow spotted her silhouetted in the landing window and jumped up and down frantically, pointing and apparently shrieking with Harmony bobbing and screaming next to her. Hideyoshi followed the redhead's pointing finger and frowned, hopefully recognizing her.

Half turning from the window, Heidi gestured, miming a conversation with someone just outside of view from the parking lot, then pointed inward and up before turning back to look outside. She let her eyes widen fearfully and her mouth fall open as Hideyoshi gave one last glare up at her and strode to the side entrance, the pack of girls falling in around him again. Backing away from the window, she moved to the stairwell railing, counting seconds until she heard footsteps entering the lower landing.

Leaning over the rail, she threw a fast look down and locked eyes briefly with Hideyoshi before letting hers widen visibly and jerking back from the stairwell window. Pounding up the stairs and away, she shouted for an imaginary Xander to move before she yanked open the third floor door, making certain that it shut loudly and unmistakably behind her.

_'Emmy material, definitely,'_ she thought as she pulled to a brief stop at the end of the third floor hall, counting seconds again. _'I need to go into drama in college.'_

**................................................**

Limping double time, Xander made his way across to the SHS entrance nearest the stairs leading up to the science labs, cursing under his breath. Taking a firmer grip on the duffel of slaying tools from Oz's van, he was happy that Oz tended to park in the lot on the opposite side of the building from the library. Opposite side of the building from Hideyoshi's van, currently, too - and the Biology teacher had a longer run to get up to the third floor labs than Xander did.

Thank gods for small favors. Mid-crisis with his girlfriend, best friend, and oldest best friend enthralled, and what Xander wanted most right now was to soak in steaming water and then relax for a month with an ice pack on his hip and a belly full of pain killers. Curled up in a ball and whimpering.

Mentally, he added a possible hairline fracture of the hip to the deep bone bruise he'd already known that vamp had left him with.

The familiar emptiness of the parking lot registered on him, barely, as he made it back to the door. A part of the plan hinged on the Sunnydale High tendency for students and teachers to vaporise immediately after last bell just as soon as humanly possible. Unless you had sports practice, cheerleader practice, or detention - or were a Scooby - _no one_ loitered around the school any longer than they had to. It was as if whatever radiation the Hellmouth put out not only drew in vamps and demons, it also repelled humans who wouldn't admit to realizing that something about the school vicinity gave them a crawly feeling.

It meant that the odds of finding an empty science classroom near the biology lab to hole up in were a lot higher than they might have been at a normal high school. Whatever a 'normal' high school was like - Xander had never seen one. Any teachers still around would be downstairs in the teacher's lounge, not sitting in their classrooms grading papers.

A simple plan, all in all. What was left of the soldier echo in the back of his head approved: simple plans had fewer moving parts to blow up on you. The newly reawakened, grimly smirking hyena leftover didn't care: plans weren't really its thing. It just wanted violence and its mates back. The sarcastic Cordy-voice back there assured him that the simpler the better; the less likely he was to screw it up with innate dweebness. The Xander part reflected that it was the only plan on the table. At least they were all agreed.

_'One of these days, I'm going to have to put out chairs and have a board meeting with all the voices in my head,'_ Xander thought, sourly. _'Maybe we can put on a road show.'_

* The fact that the girls were still alive meant that Hideyoshi hadn't yet decided to cut his losses and move on without eliminating his opponents. He'd need muscle for that, and warm bodies.

* The piles of magical, demonology, and mythology books left scattered on the research table in the empty library made certain Hideyoshi would realize they were a threat to him if they weren't eliminated.

* The slashed tires made certain he'd try to eliminate them _here_ if possible, and the near empty school made it seem like a good possibility of doing it without witnesses.

* The earlier incident with Hideyoshi and the girls chasing Xander through the main halls, lunchroom, and Quad made certain that there were too many witnesses linking Hideyoshi to the transformed girls for him to want to just eliminate them and walk off, leaving his van abandoned at the scene of the crime. Hopefully.

* The unexpected addition of Amy, Tamara, and the two former Pack members suddenly gave them enough warm bodies to offset the numbers of Hideyoshi's involuntary allies, and maybe gave them an element of surprise - he'd probably be expecting a group of four to deal with, not eight.

All of this had _clicked_ suddenly when Heidi had mentioned that Tor had prevented Hideyoshi's easy escape. What amazed Xander was that Giles hadn't so much as proposed an objection when Xander had began laying out ideas and assigning parts, merely looked thoughtful, nodded, and offered a few concise suggestions to be incorporated.

As Xander exited the third floor rear stairwell, it struck him that he'd never have even _thought_ of taking command like that before Buffy had run away at the end of the Acathla situation. He'd never have imagined Giles simply nodding and backing him at it, nor Oz for that matter. For the first time it struck him that Faith's simple declaration that they were partners and crew, not sidekicks, had irrevocably altered the Scooby dynamics into something he'd never even imagined.

Heidi's quiet 'I see 'em' followed by Jonathan's acknowledgment came over the ear piece as he pulled open the door to the chem lab they'd selected to group up in. He sent back an equally quiet "Ok, show time," and slipped in to join the others.

**................................................**

Taking up a balanced, poised stance at the hallway junction, Heidi gulped a deep breath while waiting for the thudding footsteps to round the other corner. She took in at a glance the smashed in lower corner of the window to biology classroom door where Tor had made his entrance, setting the stage.

Faith rounded the corner across from her at the opposite hall junction, skidding slightly on the slick floor and catching her balance with an eerie, fluid grace. Hideyoshi had unsnapped the lead from the collar he'd put on her, evidently trusting in the screams to lead him to the confrontation. Judging from the sounds, Willow and Aura were a short distance behind as Faith spotted Heidi and bounded towards her, face twisting in a feral looking snarl.

Spinning on the ball of her lead foot, Heidi lunged the last few feet for the biology lab, yanking open the door and throwing herself in. Slamming the door shut behind herself, she vaulted a lab table without breaking stride, heading for the back of the room while thinking, _'Oh, __this__ part is just gonna suck rocks.'_

**................................................**

Tossing the duffelbag to Oz, Xander threw a fast glance around at the others. He took in a nervous looking Amy, a pale Tamara, and a grim looking Giles and sent a manic, panicked feeling grin their way. "Ok, show time."

Unzipping the back, Oz pulled out three of the cherry wood bokken, tossing one of them to Xander. Xander snagged it out of the air with an ease that startled him, glancing at the tip before nodding back and reaching out to accept his tranq gun back from Tamara.

"Unsharpened," Oz said. "Don't want to risk hurting the girls more than we have to."

"Minor concussions only. Normal day in the life of a Scooby," Xander agreed. Giles shook his head slightly with a tight smile, one finger marking his place in the grimoire.

"_I've_ certainly endured enough of them in the line of duty," he remarked. They were lined up along the front wall of the chem lab, out of sight of the door if anyone attempted to peer in through the window. Someone would have to step in and deliberately look along the wall to spot them quickly.

"Ok," Xander felt an insane giddiness sweep over him. Looking over at a visibly shaken Tamara, he met her eyes evenly and asked, "Ready?"

Holding the tranquilizer rifle steadily, she glanced down at it and back up. "As I'll ever get," she said, nodding. Cocking her head curiously, she asked, "You guys really do this all the time?"

A pair of matching snickers bubbled up from him and Oz. Xander grinned, saying, "This is a slow week for us, yup." She stared at him, then grinned back, shaking her head.

"I'm never going to see Cordy in the same light again," she said. "Jonathan?"

"Should be on his way over as fast as he can," Xander stated. Giles and Amy were conversing in low voices beside a white knuckled Oz, probably discussing magical strategies. Giles nodded abruptly, giving Amy a reassuring grip of the shoulder and turned to Xander and Tamara.

"Do please be careful with that, Ms. St. Marins," he remarked, softly. "A dose calibrated for a slayer or a werewolf will have quite deleterious effects on a normal human."

Her eyes widening at the casual, matter of fact 'werewolf' mention, she nodded seriously. "So it's ok if I shoot Mr. Hideyoshi then."

"Err," Giles looked nonplussed for a moment, then his smile turned slightly vicious. "Quite."

The sound of running feet on school flooring caused everyone to tense, all conversation ceasing. They waited through a brief pause before fainter, more distant running sounds came to them, followed by a fast burst of steps and the biology classroom door slamming open as someone hurled themselves in.

Growling sounds, hooting shrieks, excited yipping noises, and Harmony's insane chattering announced the arrival of Hideoshi and troops. Crashing sounds came from within the biology lab as the rest of the pack neared it, everyone waiting tensely.

Xander leaned carefully against the chem lab doorway, straining to see down the short distance of hallway without exposing any of himself to casual view. Holding his trailing hand with the bokken out behind him, he motioned for everyone to wait as he watched for Hideyoshi to enter the other lab behind the girls.

**................................................**

_**Thursday September 17, 1998; Sunnydale High School Biology Classroom 132, late afternoon.**_

_'Oh holy crap- '_ Heidi's eyes widened as the door to the biology lab burst inwards, slamming against the wall and hanging crazily from one hinge as Faith burst in. A glittering spray of reinforced safety glass arced across the room as the already broken window pane exploded under her impact.

She hadn't even bothered with the window or knob, apparently just dropping a shoulder and barreling through on sheer momentum and brute strength. Exchanging quick glances with a wide eyed Tor crouching on the other side of the lab from her, Heidi could see her awestruck expression mirrored in his as the dark haired girl came to a graceful halt in the center aisle.

It was one thing to hear about the deceptively small girl casually decking Jack O'Toole and tossing him eight feet onto his ass. It was something else to glimpse evidence that that had been a _restrained_ response on Faith's part...

Not for the first time, Heidi heaped vile imprecations on the head of a certain now deceased zoo keeper. If not for him, she and Tor would still be gleefully stuffing one Xander Harris into lockers, _not_ taking part in his whacked out wannabe hero activities. Instead, the compulsion to follow the Alpha's lead was insanely difficult to resist, especially when there was a hunt in the offing. _'Damned zoo keeper. Why couldn't we have gotten a __sensible__ Alpha?'_

Landing atop a lab table with a casually graceful leap, Faith moved from table top to table top, nostrils flaring and flat, opaque eyes questing through the room for the prey she'd chased in here. A low, ominous rumble came from deep within her chest as she made her way to the back of the room.

Willow and Aura came in through the open doorway as Faith crouched on a table top, a thump announcing Willow's landing on another table, and Aura's excited yelping taking on a higher pitch as she slid into the center aisle on the slick floor.

Faith's eyes lit up as she spotted Heidi crouched behind the end table, landing gracefully on the balls of her feet and uncoiling to stalk towards her, her lips curling upwards. The deep rumble turned into a spitting snarl as Tor piled into her from behind, driving her forward as he grappled her around the waist.

An answering snarl ripped from Heidi's chest as she rolled under the table, then came to her feet and launched herself at the smaller girl's knees to help her pack mate. _'Yup, this is __really__ gonna suck... '_

**................................................**

_'Holy freaking Hannah!'_ Xander froze just inside the doorway to the biology lab as swirling chaos unfolded before him. Towards the far end of the room, a maniacally grinning Tor hung onto one of Faith's arms for dear life, his other arm locked through her armpit and reaching behind her in a half nelson. A purplish bruise spread across one side of his face as a frantically twisting and bucking Faith strove to shake him loose. A grim looking Heidi had both arms wrapped around Faith's waist and both legs wrapped around Faith's, doing her best to tie the frenzied and panicked Slayer up. A shrilly yelping Aura danced around the combatants, darting in and out.

It was fairly obvious that the only thing saving Tor and Heidi from dismemberment was the fact that the possessed Faith seemed to have lost all conscious art, relying only on strength and savagery to break loose...

Shrieking, a bristling Willow bounced from lab table to lab table, pelting everyone with whatever came to hand. On a different table, nearer to the front, Cordelia stood hunched forward over her bent knees, head cocking from side to side and making those eerie chok-chok-choking sounds. Harmony occupied a front table, head bobbing gleefully as she shrieked out odd bits of phrases.

Hideyoshi stood in the center of the lab's main aisle, near the front, watching the conflict intently. While Xander stood gaping in shock, Faith managed to bring an arm up and back, grabbing Tor by the hair as she bent forward, and peeled him off like a limpet. Tor slammed onto his back with a thud and a whoosh of violently expelled breath.

The frozen moment shattered as Giles firmly shoved Xander forward and in to one side with a muttered, "_Move_, please," so he and the others could enter.

Snarling, Faith reached down and casually ripped Heidi loose from her legs and waist and slung her rolling up towards the front down the aisle as Tor attempted to roll groggily to his feet. Xander had a brief impression of Giles coming to a halt, finger still marking his place in his grimoire and his jaw hanging uncharacteristically open as the librarian took in the scene. Oz, Tamara, and Amy swept in to either side of him as the Brit uttered a shocked "Good lord!"

Then Hideyoshi turned at Giles exclamation, spotting them, and chaos reformed into new patterns.

His paralysis melted away, and Xander threw himself forward desperately at the older man, aiming to bring the butt of the tranquilizer rifle up between Hideyoshi's legs in a movement that some recess of his memory supplied a distinct visual of someone - him and not-him - performing in the distant past.

It didn't work: turning, Hideyoshi caught the buttstroke on the outside of one thigh, and casually gripped Xander by collar and sleeve and sent him cartwheeling into Heidi as she scrambled onto her feet. Both of them went down in a tangle of limbs, Xander's mind remarking with a surreal calmness, _'Great - Nightgaunts and Durslar beasts, and __we're__ going to get our collective asses kicked by a small Asian gentleman. That's just so __very__ Kung-fu movie matinee... ' _

Gripping it by the edge, Faith casually ripped one of the heavy lab tables from its moorings, upending it to fall over with a crash onto another one as she stalked towards the pair of them. Willow screeched and abandoned her perch just before the flung table impacted on it, landing on her knuckles and the balls of her feet with her lips peeled back. Aura lunched herself at the still groggy Tor, savage, high pitched growls coming out of her.

Wide eyed, Xander and Heidi hastily scrambled apart before the oncoming Slayer, Heidi rolling one direction as Xander threw himself the other way, grimly clutching the dart rifle like Linus with his security blanket. As he rolled to his feet, Xander's eyes caught Cordelia's and locked there for an endless moment and he sent her a desperate, visual plea to stay out of the battle and unharmed. He had a brief flash of seeing something behind that opaque gaze as his girlfriend gave a birdlike cock of her head - some almost flash of the girl trapped inside - before he desperately threw himself rolling again to evade Faith's lunging grasp. Bringing up the dart rifle, he squeezed the trigger only to see the dart go wide into the upper wall as Faith pounced the hapless Heidi, lunging under his aim.

Nearer the front, a gleeful Harmony launched herself from a tabletop and crashed into Giles as he started to read his incantation. Elbows akimbo, the Brit staggered backward, fighting for balance, as Harmony ineffectually swiped at him with her head in an attempt to carve chunks from him with the beak she didn't possess. Tamara slipped carefully down the aisle nearest the front wall, tranq gun at port arms while she searched for a clear shot through the melee, occasionally ducking Willow-missiles.

Going for the over-the-tables route, Oz jumped up onto a lab bench while watching Hideyoshi carefully with slitted eyes. Willow threw a small equipment rack at him before launching herself across the aisle between tables and he merely turned slightly, taking the impact on one shoulder with a grunt. She threw herself at him, bristling, teeth bared. With a certain brutal economy of motion, he brought the blunt end of the bokken up into her diaphragm and whipped the other one down on the back of Willow's head with a sharp 'thok!' sound, his eyes never leaving Hideyoshi.

Willow's eyes rolled up into the back of her head and she slid limply to the floor between lab tables. Tor managed to get both feet up between himself and the snarling Aura and shoved her away violently to crash into the biology lab's rear side wall with a thud, sliding down it as he got shakily to his feet.

With a sigh, and a slight eye roll, Giles brought a knee up into Harmony's side - rather more gently than he could have - and shoved her squawking away to land on her rear with a startled thump. He backed away and began reading in a loud, clear voice as Hideyoshi's eyes narrowed. Jonathan appeared in the lab's doorway, wild eyed and panting heavily.

Crossing his hands over his wrists in an oddly precise gesture, the Biology teacher worked his fingers in a jerking movement. Amy's clear voice rang out over the melee, chanting.

_"Hecate, Daughter of Pheraia, Phosphoros, grant us surcease -" _her voice rising, sparkling, coiled energy swirled around the chanting Amy. _"By thy Strophalos' power drag this warlock into Hypnos' embrace!" _Thrusting her arms outward, the energy coils leapt the short distance from Amy to the teacher, enveloping him as he made an abortive warding gesture. There was an almost simultaneous pulse of some sort, felt by nearly everyone.

Hideyoshi staggered slightly, his eyelids drooping, but not before the weird pulse swept outwards from him across the room. With an abrupt shake of his head, Hideyoshi's eyes cleared and his head whipped around to fix Amy with a vicious glare.

Gold light flashed in the eyes of the animalistic Faith, Harmony, and Cordelia. Tor's eyes flashed gold-green as he lunged towards Faith from behind, a shrill cackling laugh coming from deep in his throat. A matching laugh came from Heidi's lips as her eyes flashed green-golden as well, and she threw herself forward. Cordelia took flight from the top of a table - not literally, but it almost looked that way to Xander as he glimpsed her from the corner of his eye - to land huddled between lab tables, 'kok! kok!'ing in alarm.

Xander wasn't aware of the equally visible flash of green-gold light that flashed briefly across his own eyes. A red black haze swept through his mind, conscious thoughts receding as a wave of almost sensual fury rippled through him, threatening to drag him under. He felt his lips peel back from his teeth and an answering cackling laugh ripped from his throat as horror ran in circles gibbering at the back of his mind.

Just for a moment - a _brief _moment - Xander shoved back against the furious tide sweeping him under, grappling desperately with the temptation to just give in. Time seemed to slow to a crawl as the effects of the pulse from Hideyoshi's effect coursed through him, almost submerging him in a haze of dimly remembered - and much repressed - emotion. An image of Faith casually tossing people and furnishings aside like kindling stuttered across his mind's eye, mingled with strobe-like snapshots from their earlier fight...

He wasn't strong enough for this, nor even _close_ to durable enough. Faith-normal was a viciously dangrous fighter, almost primal and uncontrolled. Faith-possessed was an almost elemental force, far beyond vicious. How do you _stop_ a force of nature? How could _he_ stop a force of nature? How could _he_ protect _her?_

He'd gotten away before because Faith hadn't been trying to hurt him. That wasn't the case here: there was nothing playful or amorous in those flat, predator's eyes. Just irritation at the way they were tying her up and harrying her.

How do you _stop_ a force of nature? _Become_ the beast... he felt something ancient stir inside of him, demanding passage.

Watching the creature that Hideyoshi had turned Faith into lunge towards him, something within him just... broke and stepped aside. Only a single thought coursed through him; _'This has to end. Stop this, please.'_

Something as viciously feral as the possessed Slayer stood up on its hind legs, shaking off a year and a half of chains like cobwebs, and surged forward smirking to swallow him up. _'With pleasure,'_ rippled through his brain along with a fresh wave of nauseatingly sensual strength. Followed by what he hoped was his own mind screaming, _'Mate! Pack! __Don't__ hurt!'_

Xander Harris faded as the tug became an overwhelming surge, unaware whether his panicked shout had registered. The entire world slid crisply into focus, _his_ mind locking into together with the remnants of his previous possession and something _else_, something clinical and precise that he couldn't identify. Throwing his head back, the manic laughter that came out chilled what was left of his awareness.

As what had recently been Xander brought his head down with a vicious smirk, he was unaware that all eyes in the room seemed drawn to him, aware only that Tor and Heidi leapt back from Faith, circling slightly, their grins matching his own. Faith paused, leaned back and hissed at him like an exploding boiler. Even Hideyoshi and Amy broke off their counterpointing chants to spare him startled glances. His entire posture was different, everything about him subtly changed. When he moved it was with a fluid grace that was alien to the gawky teenager...

Xander lunged into Faith in a full on charge, bokken and tranq gun laying forgotten in the aisle, his dropped shoulder impacting Faith in the sternum and tossing her back against the edge of a lab table. Tor and Heidi followed up, each charging in to pin Faith as best they could, laughing all the while. A flailing elbow caught Tor in the forehead, splitting skin, as he snagged one of her arms. White teeth snapped and gold-brown eyes blazed at him as Xander leaned into her prone form. Faith's teeth seemed viciously sharp and her lips drew back in an inhuman snarl as she hissed into his face. Xander leaned in to meet her, his smile one of sadistic glee as he laughed into her snarl. Unlike her own seemingly glazed eyes, Xander's were green-gold and malevolently self-aware.

Still by the doorway, catching his breath hurriedly after his run, a wide-eyed Jonathan took everything in as a gold-green light flashed in Oz's eyes as well. The guitarist crouched waiting, bowstring taut, for Giles' incantation to finish. Oz's faded denim shirt sleeves and the seams at the back split, long reddish hair peeking through the tears. Lips peeled back from suddenly long canine teeth, and sideburns bristled as a sudden, five day growth of reddish beard crept over his jawline. Fur sprouted from knuckles clenched white around the grips of the two bokken.

A sharp '_**phut!**_' came from one side and Tor staggered, his eyes glazing over. His grip on Faith's left arm fell away as he staggered backwards. Cursing, Tamara frantically worked at sliding open the breech of the dart rifle to reload as Faith brought her knee up into Heidi's stomach, the blonde girl's breath driving out of her in a startled '_whulff!_' as Xander drove in harder against the semi-pinned Slayer. Faith brought her free arm around, fingers crooked like claws to slash at Xander, but he bobbed to the side almost on pure instinct, her wild strike missing his head by centimeters. Before she brought it around in a backhanded strike, he lunged in, grabbing her wrist with his right hand, his left forearm jamming her forearm and elbow up across her own collarbone and throat, pinning it temporarily. He leaned in, just a hairsbreadth distance away from her face, his peeled back lips almost touching hers.

"Aww. Poor kitty have an oopsie?" Xander taunted in a gravelly voice, his expression gleeful. "That's _so_ disappointing."

Hideyoshi brought his hands up, fingers crooking in an arcane gesture as he stared at Amy. Amy's eyes went black momentarily, her lips moving inaudibly as her fingers crooked in return. A sicky yellow glow surrounded Hideyoshi's hands, and turning slightly - without warning he flung it as a bolt of greenish-yellow light at the sonorously intoning Giles, rather than at Amy...

Coruscating blue-white light flared in a curved pattern where it struck, stopping feet from the chanting librarian, before it arced across from him to merge into the swirling motes of energy surrounding Amy.

Amy smirked, raising a sardonic eyebrow over one ebony eye as Hideyoshi's expression took on a foul mien. Giles' voice rose and held, ending on a harsh note along with his incantation and there was a sudden, brilliant white flash centered on Hideyoshi's wrists. Taking in a deep gulp of air, Jonathan threw himself from the doorway, rushing head down between the tables at the Biology teacher.

Bristling, a feral looking Oz dove from his table top at Hideyoshi, both bokken swirling in one of the attack patterns Faith had been teaching them. Jonathan hastily stutter-stepped, pausing at the edges of the sudden mini-melee, not wanting to get clipped by one of those heavy sticks. Hideyoshi leaned back, one hand coming up to deflect the wrist and sending an overhead strike harmlessly to one side. His other came up to deflect a strike that suddenly wasn't there - the feint flowling naturally from a head-strike into a low, upward attack the drove the tip up and in just below the teacher's sternum. Pale greenish energy flared at the impact as whatever protections Hideyoshi had on himself blunted the attack, but it was enough to briefly stun and drive the wind from him. 'Briefly' was enough: Oz simply let go of both sticks and grappled for Hideyoshi's sleeves: sharp nailed fingers ripping at the teacher's wrists while a low rumbling sound grumbled out of his chest. There was a tearing sound and Oz dove under a lab table as Hideyoshi brought a knee up sharply. Hideyoshi side stepped smoothly, pushing almost gently against Jonathan's shoulder as he rushed in at the teacher, then grasping Jonathan by collar and one wrist and using his momentum to turn him about.

Amy began another chant, her fingers writhing as Hideyoshi rushed Jonathan forward, twisting his trapped wrist up behind him. At the end of a short rush, the teacher released the flailing Jonathan and sent him crashing head first into the onrushing Giles. A dazed looking Willow crawled up to her feet, pulling herself up to huddle atop one of the tables.

Faith brought an elbow back sharply into the drugged, fumbling Tor, driving the air from his lungs and doubling him over. She brought her leg up, her knee glancing off of Xander's hip but fortunately _not_ impacting with all of her terrible strength. Her other arm still free, a rippling snarl broke from Faith's lips as she reached up a clawed hand only to be met with Xander's descending grip on her off wrist as he desperately leaned into her trapped forearm. Even with the advantage of reach and leverage, Faith's far superior strength forced him back an inch at a time. _'We're not winning this way,'_ he realized. '_We __can't__ win this way.'_

His own eyes equally feral, Xander released both grips and caught Faith by the biceps, shaking her furiously as she stomped down at a rolling Heidi. Heidi fell back, snarling a curse as the edge of Faith's Harley boot clipped her head. Desperately, Xander shoved the swirling wildness back down into the recesses of his mind where he'd been keeping it locked away, asserting a kind of wispy control over himself.

"Faith!" Xander shouted, boring into her opaque gaze with his own eyes. "_**Faith!**_ _Snap_ out of it, _Faith_." His fingers bit into her arms cruelly, with all of the desperate strength still coursing through him.

Faith's wide, shocked eyes came up to his, clearing momentarily. The corners of her lips curled up, and a desperate whining sound came out of her throat. Bringing her own arms up between them, she grasped him by the jacket front, pulling him in. Inhaling deeply, a low rumble came out of her and her eyes lit up. She nuzzled along his jawline with a purring groan, her breath whuffling in his ear.

Amy's voice rose, chanting, _"Goddess Hecate, work thy will,"_ Swirling energy surrounded her and she thrust her hands out as the chant finished, _"Before thee let the unclean thing crawl!"_ - the power of the spell leaping from her hands and enveloping Hideyoshi. Staggering slightly, Hideyoshi's eyes narrowed and the energy dissipated.

His eyes half closing, Xander leaned into the nuzzle, an intoxicating rush of Faith-scent and near savage lust pouring through him...

"_Xander!_ Move out of the damned _way_!" Tamara's voice cut across the bizarre embrace and he shook his head, shoving Faith back with all of his remaining, desperate strength and dodging aside. There was another loud '_**phut!**_' sound and Faith staggered backwards, and her eyes widened, then glazed over slightly. She jerked, shaking her head dazedly as Heidi stood on shaky legs, one fist drawn back.

With a heave, muscles bunching in his shoulder and forearm, Oz lifted the corner of the overturned lab table above Hideyoshi's cufflinks as Heidi brought her fist down sharply across Faith's jaw with the full weight of her back, shoulder, and arm behind it. Faith slumped bonelessly as Oz let the heavy table fall, crushing the cufflinks. Xander caught Faith as she fell, easing her to the ground while giving Heidi a reproachful glare.

There came an almost blinding flash of golden light from under the table edge, and Oz staggered back, blinking. Heidi stepped away cradling her hand, bumping into Xander.

Her eyes narrowing and turning to black pools in her face, Amy raised her hands again with crooked fingers, chanting:

_"Hecate, Queen of all Witches: I beseech thee!_

_Ghost Queen and Pathkeeper, _

_Let thy will flow through me,_

_Cthonian and Prytania, hear my call -_

_Before thy daughter let the unclean creature sprawl!"_

Energy swirled between them again, deeper in intensity this time, and enveloped Hideyoshi as he brought his hands up in a warding gesture. The energy disappeared with an abrupt flash, and the Biology teacher's clothes settled to the floor in a disheveled heap.

After a moment, the pile of clothing twitched, twitched again, and a small furry form slipped out of one of the jacket sleeves and scurried beneath one of the lab tables.

***********************************************


	17. Chapter 16: You Can Always Find Me Here

**Chapter 16: But You Can Always Find Me Here (It's **_**really**_** been a treat) -**

_**Thursday September 17, 1998; Sunnydale High School Biology Classroom 132, 4:10 P.M.**_

Rupert Giles finished disentangling himself from Jonathan, rising carefully to his feet and putting down a hand to help lift the small teen to his own. Both of them looked around at the carnage, blinking.

Xander knelt down next to the unconscious Faith, reaching out to brush the hair back from her face. His finger tips gently tracked the swelling purple mark along her jaw. Absently, he noticed his hand was shaking. It hadn't stopped, really - not since the feral rush from Hideyoshi's mystical pulse had left him spent in its wake.

Nearby, Heidi sunk down onto her heels, shaking her head as she glanced from Xander, to Faith, to the groaning Tor, and back again. Still cradling her hand against her chest, she raised an eyebrow to Xander.

"You know, I really, _really_ hate you, Boss," she remarked.

A sour breath of laughter escaped Xander's lips as he looked back at her. "It's mutual," he said, his mouth curling up at the corners.

"Was _lots_ of fun though," Heidi laughed. "Have to do it again - some time around half past never."

"_Promise_ I won't throw an end of the world party without forgetting your invitations," Xander stated. Tor barked out a laugh that was half gasp, half groan, rolling over onto an elbow facing them.

"Gonna hold you to that," Tor remarked.

Nodding, Xander looked around, wondering where Cordelia had gotten off to. He started to rise up from his kneeling position, and gave that idea up with a groan as his hip protested vigorously.

Near the front, Harmony stood stock still for several long moments as the others gathered themselves back together, a myriad of expressions chasing themselves across her face. Finally, she swept a molten looking glare over everyone, stuck her nose in the air, and exclaimed "You... _FREAKS_!" before bursting into tears and rushing out. A dazed looking Aura shook herself all over, blinked several times, and then carefully walked from the back of the room to the front, following Harmony out more slowly. Rubbing gingerly at the back of her head, she exited, waving off a concerned question from Giles.

A muffled "Euuughh!' came from under the table where Cordelia had disappeared, followed shortly after by a wild eyed, wild haired, and infuriated looking Cordelia scrambling out from under and up to her feet. "That... " she trailed off spluttering, apparently failing to find an expletive or expression foul enough. She settled for an icy glare around the room before grimacing and heading for the downed Xander and unconscious Faith.

Kneeling down by Xander, Cordelia looked down at Faith, briskly checking the shorter girl's pulse and peeling back an eyelid before letting out a pent up breath. She looked up at Xander, blinking, and blew a wild strand of hair out of her eyes. "Hey, doofus," she remarked.

"Hey yourself," Xander reached out to brush more hair away from her face, cupping her cheek as Cordelia turned her face into his palm.

A brilliant, radiant, full blown version of the thousand watt grin broke across her lips and she locked eyes with him. "You came in after me."

"Did you ever doubt it?" Xander asked, frowning.

"Six months ago I wouldn't have been sure," she admitted.

"It's not six months ago anymore," Xander said.

"No. It's not, is it?" Breaking the too intense eye contact, Cordelia looked down at Faith. "She going to be all right?"

"Tranked," Xander said. "Tamara nailed her. Then Heidi cold-cocked her." Cordelia nodded, her eyes flickering to the black Cordette and back to him.. "She _should_ come out of it in a bit," he added. "'All right' may take awhile."

Cordelia nodded again. "Yeah. Know the feeling." Biting at her lower lip, she reached down and unbuckled Hideyoshi's collar from around Faith's throat, pulling it away and flinging it across the room with a convulsive gesture.

Straightening up on top of one of the lab tables, Willow looked around in bewilderment, turned bright red, and then burst into tears. A no longer hirsute Oz caught her as she jumped down, sweeping her into his arms to bury her face in his shoulder. He held her quietly as her shoulders heaved.

Catching herself on a table as her knees buckled, then levering herself up a bit unsteadily to her feet, Tamara went over to the small cluster around Faith. Offering a hand to the bruised looking and disheveled Heidi she pulled as the blonde girl worked herself up to to her feet. Tor managed to work himself to his feet on his own, rubbing his jaw and shaking his head.

"Ok, so is it always like this?" Tamara asked, the empty tranq gun dangling from her right hand.

"No idea," Heidi said, leaning against her shoulder and blinking lazily.

"We're first timers too," Tor admitted. "Mostly."

Tamara nodded with a serious expression. "'k. Just asking."

Reaching down and pulling a dart out of his upper thigh, Tor gave her an amused look. "They're breeding cheerleaders tough these days. Something in the water?"

"It's the acrobatic routines and the short skirts," Cordelia remarked. "They build character."

All three of them stared at her, and then Tamara spluttered laughter. Tor and Heidi shook their heads, then howled in response, reaction fueling the near hysterical laughs. "That they do," Tamara nodded, wiping at her eyes. "_That_ they do."

She glanced over as Jonathan and Giles wandered over to join them, Giles stooping to retrieve the other tranquilizer rifle from the floor. She gave a nod to the dazed looking Jonathan, sending a smile his direction. Hesitantly, he smiled back, flushing slightly under her scrutiny.

"They're making tougher geeks these days, too," Tamara remarked, causing Jonathan's flush to deepen until the tips of his ears reddened and he looked away.

"I've noticed that," Cordelia said in a serious voice. She punched Xander in the biceps, smirking at him. They watched as a quiet and very grim looking Oz led Willow toward the room exit with an arm around her shoulders. Meeting the groups eyes in passing, he gave a fractional nod and headed the two of them out.

"They going to be ok?" Jonathan asked.

Xander nodded. "Oz is pretty tough. And Willow's tougher than she seems." His voice became a bit more uncertain on that last note.

Across the room, near to the back corner, Amy made a pouncing motion by one of the tables, coming out grasping a wriggling and infuriated looking Hideyoshi-rat by the nape of the neck. "_Got_ him!" Looking triumphant, her face fell when she noticed everyone's disarray. "Well, crap."

"Quite." Giles reached up to adjust his glasses. "Well put."

Looking around for something to do with the furiously struggling rodent, Amy's gaze landed on several empty display cages on the back shelves under the windows. Taking her prize over there, she opened one with her free hand, stuffing the Hideyoshi-rat inside and shutting the cage door firmly. Picking it up with both hands, she carried it over to join them.

"Somehow, I'm finding that rather poetic," Giles remarked, looking down into the cage. "It looks rather better on him than it did on Buffy, I must say."

"I'm thinking he needs an exercise wheel," Amy said, grinning down at the rodent.

"Hmm." Cordelia gave the caged rat a distinctly unsympathetic look. "And one of those little feeders with warfarin in the seed mix," she suggested.

"Ouch," Tor and Heidi exchanged faintly alarmed looks. Taking Heidi from Tamara to support her on his own shoulder, Tor looked askance at Cordelia. "I'm making a note here: do _not_ piss off the cheerleaders. It's bad for your health."

"Damn straight," Cordelia flashed a sincerely venomous grin at him. Sighing heavily, she looked at Xander and lifted one of Faith's arms. "Let's get her up. I-we need to get out of here."

Xander nodded, then winced and gave out a slight groan as he shifted his weight. Tor put down a hand as Tamara took Xander's other and they hauled him unsteadily to his feet as Cordelia half stood with the unconscious slayer supported across one shoulder. Taking Faith's other arm across his shoulder, Xander slipped an arm around her waist, helping to support her weight between them. "Always amazes me how she's really such a tiny girl, all in all," he said.

"Are you quite certain the two of you can manage?" Giles asked, eying the somewhat battered looking trio with an uncertain expression.

"Yeah. We got it, Giles." Cordelia regarded the two pack members evenly, cocking her head slightly. "Twice in a week or so. I really do need to thank you two."

"No, you really _don't_," Heidi said. Tor shook his head.

"Can't let the Boss's mate get taken down," he said. "It's not _right_."

"Mate, huh." Cordelia met Xander's eyes over Faith's head with a bemused look. Xander's eyes widened a bit, and he shook his head with a rueful sounding laugh, shrugging with his off shoulder.

"Oooh. As I live and breathe," an unpleasantly familiar voice cut across the quiet discussion from near the lab's doorway. Everyone looked up, startled, to see Principal Snyder standing just inside the entrance, arms folded and a distinctly unpleasant gleam lighting his eyes. Fixing the cluster of teens - and one librarian - with an avuncular gaze, he nodded slowly as a shark's grin spread over his lips. "I always knew that if I were to bide my time well, I'd catch _all_ of you assorted miscreants red handed."

**................................................**

After a brief frozen moment, everyone's paralysis broke. Tucking the tranquilizer rifle under his arm like a swagger stick, Giles cleared his throat, stepping forward to peer down at the diminutive administrator with a distinctly unpleasant expression.

"Ah. Mr. Snyder - just the fellow I was ah-about to go about looking for," Giles said.

"Really." Snyder cocked his head, an expression of deep, or at least deeply fake, interest crossing his features. "By all means, Mr. Giles, please _do_ enlighten and entertain me with whatever improvised explanation you've just conjured up for why I have a distraught cheerleader fleeing the school in tears, another fleeing in a state of, shall I say, marked disrepair, a shattered doorway here, and a trashed Biology lab?" He paused briefly, looking over the assembled group with interest, no doubt tallying additional oddities, and adding, "_And_ violations of California 'weapons on campus' Federal ordinances? You cannot possibly _imagine_ the depths of the anticipation with which I await your version of events."

"Oh, I am quite certain I can," Giles said, smoothly. Snyder's raised eyebrow taking in the swagger-stick dart rifle under his arm and the matching one that Tamara was - unsuccessfully - trying to conceal behind her caused him to falter momentarily, a nonplussed expression crossing Giles face.

"Oh! What should I do with our specimen, Mr. Giles?" Amy asked brightly, stepping forward with the caged Hideyoshi-rat. Jonathan nodded energetically, stepping up next to her and fixing Giles with an expectant look.

"Specimen?" Snyder peered at the cage. Amy gave him a vigorous nod, thrusting the cage out at him. Chittering viciously, the Hideyoshi-rat stood at the bars, baring an impressive looking dentition. Jumping back slightly, Snyder aimed a finger at the cage. "Tha-that's a _rat_! A _big_ rat!"

"Why yes, actually," Giles remarked. "A rather impressive and unusual specimen of _Rattus Argentiventus_, I believe."

"_Rattus_ _Argentiven__ter_," Jonathan corrected.

"Err, Quite," Giles adjusted his glasses, peering down at the cage with a clinical expression. "_Argentiventer._ Miss Kendall and Ms. err, Breckenridge were rather startled upon encountering it near here, necessitating our attempts to subdue and capture it and its cohorts." He rather negligently waved the tranquilizer rifle about the biology lab, causing Synder to violently flinch away as the muzzle crossed over him in passing.

"R-ra-rattus Argentiver?" Snyder stammered, backpedaling from the suddenly fey looking Brit - and the rat cage.

"Argenti_venter_," Jonathan supplied in a helpful tone, nodding vigorously. "Oriental Rice-field Rat." Tamara covertly shot him an impressed look and he reddened slightly.

"Yes. Precisely," Giles said. "We were on our way just now to the library to dial up the err, Board of Health before looking you up to inform you of our find."

"B-bo-board of Health?" Snyder shrank back a few inches more, eying the cage with even stronger distaste.

"And the California Fish and Game Service," Jonathan supplied, nodding decisively. Snyder fixed him with decidedly jaundiced expression as he added, "And the Department of Agriculture."

"Department of _Agriculture_?!?" Snyder's eyebrows shot up and he looked worriedly between the two males. A number of people behind Giles, Amy, and Jonathan quietly smothered grins and stifled snickers.

Jonathan shrugged. "Non-indigenous species. Someone had to have introduced them here." He grinned, adding, "Illegally."

"Quite so, Mr. Levinson," Giles remarked. "All in all, a _remarkable_ find. Unprecedented to locate an infestation in such a locale."

"Ahem." Snyder drew himself up, clasping his hands behind his back. He regarded the small group distastefully and with a rather skeptical air. "Infestation?"

Amy'd head bobbed enthusiastically, her grin widening. "Infestation. You never find just _one_ rat - where you see _one_, there's a _nest_."

"Nest?!?" Snyder squeaked, his eyes darting about nervously. Xander quietly bit down on his forearm behind Giles back, his eyes widening alarmingly. Wrenching his gaze around, Snyder eyed Giles' and Tamara's dart rifles with an appraising glance. "Air rifles?"

"Air rifles," Giles agreed.

Gazing at the still woozy looking Tor and the slumped Faith, Snyder waved aimlessly in their direction, "And... "

"Tranquilizer mishap," Giles intoned, pushing up his glasses on his nose. "Quite tragic, actually." Cordelia's eyes widened and she hastily stuffed the edge of her hand between her teeth and bit down, stifling hysterical giggles.

"Well," Synder nodded decisively. "You people certainly seem to have matters in hand, then. I'm seeing no reason to be involving the Board of Health - or _Agriculture_ - in this."

"Uh, I dunno," Jonathan said, slowly. "Non-indigenous _invasive_ species. California is pretty adamant about being informed about threats to agriculture..."

"Nonsense!" Synder made a scoffing noise. Waving dismissively at Giles and Tamara, he shook a finger at Jonathan. "Absolutely no need to involve authorities in what's no doubt a minor problem that's easily taken care of by the err, specialists at hand. Am I right?"

"No need whatsoever," Giles said, his expression bland.

"Exactly! Do carry on," Snyder bounced once on his toes, turning towards the doorway. "I'll expect a full report on this Monday, Mr. Giles. A _full_ report." Head up, he strutted out arrogantly, his footsteps rapidly echoing down the hall and away.

"Very full. A veritable blivet." Giles removed his glasses with a sigh, "You bloody tosser."

Unable to contain themselves any more, Cordelia burst out snickering helplessly along with Xander. "Oh, that was priceless," she said.

"_Could_ have just paid him off with some gold-pressed Latinum," Xander remarked.

"Huh. Geeks rule," Tor remarked. "Whoda thunk it?"

"I'm seeing that," Tamara said. "Nice job."

"Indeed," Giles favored a grinning Amy and a furiously blushing Jonathan with a distinctly approving look. "Excellent job of thinking on one's feet, you two."

**................................................**

Outside, Xander slumped in near exhaustion against the building front, supporting Faith against him with an arm around her waist as Cordelia sighed tiredly. Giles, the two pack members, and the others had stayed behind briefly to gather up any remaining gear and books, Mr. Hideyoshi's clothing, the remnants of his cuff links, and whatever other evidences were left from the struggle.

Cordelia eased her shoulder from under Faith's, glancing worriedly at her. Shaking her head slightly, she gave Xander a speculative look, and then slowly, deliberately, placed her hands on his shoulders and gave him a deep and emphatic kiss.

"Wow," he said when she broke away finally. "What was that for?"

"For coming in after us," she said, her eyes serious. "For not giving us up. I'll let you pass that to Oz, 'cause Willow would probably _freak_ if I thanked _him_ like that." A grin tugging at her lips, she smacked him solidly on the chest with her open palm. Her grin broadened, "And _that_ was in case you get to thinking you liked the new _demure_ Cordelia. She is so _not_ coming back. _Ever_."

"Ow." Xander laughed, shaking his head. "Nope. Not me. I like the One True Original Cordy." Capturing her hand, he entwined his fingers between hers. "Accept no substitutes."

With a groan, Faith stirred under Xander's arm, her head coming up. Her eyes shot open, blinking, and she pushed off from the wall abruptly.

"Hey," Cordelia gave her a concerned look. "Welcome back."

"Yeah." Faith pushed her hair back from her face with an abrupt gesture, letting her hands fall to her side. She fixed Xander with a peculiar expression, her eyes darkening. "Did I hurt anyone bad?"

"No." Xander shook his head slightly. "Not so much."

Nodding slowly, she looked to Cordelia. "You ok?"

"Yes. No. Not so much," Cordelia gave a slight shrug, looking uncomfortable. "Will be."

"Yeah." Faith nodded again, looking away. As Xander slowly raised a hand and reached out to touch her cheek, she leaned back, not quite lifting her own to block his. "No. Don't." She took a step back, not meeting his eyes. "Just... don't."

Letting his hand fall, Xander let a slow breath out, and nodded. He gave Cordelia a helpless look.

"Whatever it was... " Cordelia started, then trailed off. She shook her head, locking eyes with Faith. "It wasn't you. Not really."

"Right." Faith nodded. Shoving her hands in her back pockets, she looked away. "Look, I can't do this. Not right now," she took a deep breath and met Xander's eyes evenly. "I just... _can't_."

Turning on her heel, she strode down the school steps and away, head down. Xander frowned, straightening from the side of the entranceway a bit.

"No." Putting her palm to his chest, over his heart, Cordelia pushed back lightly and shook her head. "I think she needs some alone time," she said, biting at her lower lip. "I can relate." Turning to look after the disappearing Slayer, she asked, "Was it bad?"

"You... " Xander broke off, biting back a giggle with a helpless expression. He spread his hands, "Started to say you have _no_ idea, but you do, don't you?"

"Yeah." Nodding seriously, she added, "Not specifics maybe, but... yeah." Looking up at him, she frowned slightly, "We are going to be in therapy for _life_, you _so_ know this, don't you?"

"Hah!" A harsh bark of laughter startled itself out of him and he leaned back, guffawing helplessly. "Yeah. But we're _never_ gonna find a therapist that'll believe us."

"Oh, we are _so_ screwed," Cordelia agreed, snickering. The snicker took on a slightly hysterical edge and her voice broke. Xander squeezed her should comfortingly, looking miserable.

They broke off conversation as the others straggled out of the building in an equally exhausted looking state. Giles nodded to the two of them, his hands in his front pockets. He gave Cordelia a curious and rather abstractedly concerned appraisal.

"I must say," he remarked, "You are looking much closer to your usual self, Miss Chase."

"Cordelia," she waved it off tiredly. "It's been the equivalent of a formal introduction."

Startled laughter burst out of Giles, and his eyes crinkled at her. "Why yes, so it has."

"And yeah," Cordelia nodded, her eyes bright. "All dispossessed and everything."

"Excellent," Giles said. He looked about, his expression curious, but guarded, "Err, Faith?"

Xander hunched into his jacket a bit. "She... " he made a vague gesture, "Wanted some alone time."

"Ah." Giles nodded, pushing his glasses up a bit farther on his nose and sighing tiredly. "I see." Tamara, Amy, Jonathan and the others gathered up around, blinking at the outside world, Amy still carrying the rat cage.

"All right, Boss," Tor said, smirking at Xander. "We're gone." Xander gave him and Heidi a tired wave and a nod.

"Hrmm." Giles' gaze on them caused the two former Pack members to glance at him curiously. Removing his glasses, Giles regarded them while absently beginning to polish his lenses. "It occurs to me that we quite need to have a talk at some point."

Raising an eyebrow, Tor glanced at Heidi who cocked her head and fixed Giles with a flat, calculating gaze. "No, we really don't."

Giles gave her a nonplussed look, opening his mouth to begin a remark or statement. Tor met his eyes evenly and directly, cutting across him, "No offense, Mr. Giles, but we spent the last year and a half coming to terms with everything that happened," he said. His lips curled in something that might or might _not_ have been a smile. "_Without_ your help, inquiries, assistance, or even casual fucking interest."

"Kyle and Rhonda never did come to terms with it, not really." Heidi's grin was a mirthless scimitar curve of her lips as Giles' mouth closed into a hard line. "Time for you to offer 'a little chat' done came and gone _long_ ago," she finished.

"Yup." Tor nodded lazily. "Xan ever needs to, he knows where to find us. _We_ take care of our own," he added, his eyes sweeping with equal laziness across Xander and Cordelia inclusively, then back over Giles. "And you're not one of them."

"Wow." Tamara's gaze followed the two of them as they ambled down the front steps of the school, Tor's arm across Heidi's shoulders. "Those two are _intense_."

"Uh," Jonathan shivered. "Those two are freaking _scary_."

"Yeah. Seriously," Cordelia agreed, tucking into Xander's side. She glanced sidelong with some amusement at Giles, who's glasses polishing had taken on a furious intensity as he looked away.

"Ahem." Giles gaze fixed upon Xander, who put his hands up, palm out.

"Don't look at me," he said. "I didn't do it."

"Uh.... need us to help put away books or anything, Mr. Giles?" Jonathan asked, looking distinctly uncomfortable. An ominous rumbling sound came from the vicinity of his midsection and he looked around, wide eyed.

"No, that's quite all right," Giles said absently, still examining Xander with an intent gaze. "I'll get them sorted." He paused, finally looking away from Xander and Cordelia to the remaining three, "However, I _would_ like to speak with the three of you."

"Ah." Cordelia blew wisps of hair from her eyes. "Why don't we table the post-Slay discussion until morning and have a meeting?" She grinned, "Let Amy and Tam drag the geek off and feed him before he implodes or something."

"I never did eat lunch," Jonathan admitted, reddening.

"Hah. Quite," Giles gave her a rueful look and a small smile. "Very well, shoo then. We can do the postmortem sometime tomorrow, as it were."

"Sounds good," Cordelia nodded, hooking Xander's arm with her own. "C'mon, hero - you can see me home." Meeting Giles' eyes with a disconcertingly steady look, she added, "Thank you as well, Giles."

Replacing his glasses on his nose, Giles glanced after the other teens. "Quite all right, Cordelia. You should really save that for your friends - I fear I contributed very little to the resolution of this affair."

***********************************************


	18. Pearls Before Swine: Epilogue

**Pearls Before Swine: Epilogue -**

_"So if you should see me, say hello (I won't invite you in)" -_

_**Thursday September 17, 1998; Chase Manor, late afternoon/early evening.**_

Cordelia pulled the Vision XLR into the driveway, stopping at the gate. Pushing in the clutch, she set the gearshift to neutral and engaged the parking brake before reclining her seat back and unbuckling the safety belt.

"Hoo boy," blowing out a breath, she turned in her seat to look at Xander, her eyes bright.

"I'll see your 'hoo boy' and raise you one of Giles' 'bloody hells'," Xander said. Reclining his own bucket seat back, he stretched tiredly before turning back to her and taking her right hand in his own. Intertwining his fingers with hers, he turned their hands over to look at the mated rings, side by side.

"'Vous et nul autre'," she remarked.

"You, and no other," Xander's lips quirked up at the corners. "I was afraid I was losing you."

"You almost did," Cordelia said, looking pensively out the windshield. "A part of me kept wondering why it was taking you so long to notice," she looked back, capturing his eyes. "But you did, didn't you." It wasn't a question, not really.

"Yup. It was kinda hard to miss," Xander admitted. "Figuring out 'to what' and what to do about it took longer."

Cordelia nodded, rubbing the back of his hand in slow strokes with her thumb. "I couldn't really think well enough to figure that out. And I kept losing more all the time."

"Yeah. Quiet, shy Cordy was kinda scary," Xander said. "I wanted mean, bitchy, feisty Cordy back."

"Hah! Flatterer," she stuck her tongue out at him.

Xander laughed, his expression sobering abruptly. "Are you really ok?"

"No." Cordelia shuddered. "I feel... unclean. And like I don't fit in my own skin any more. It wouldn't have been so bad if all of that came from whatever spell Hideyoshi was using... "

"But it wasn't," Xander agreed, looking away.

"And you'd know that, wouldn't you." That wasn't a question either, and Xander answered it with a terse nod.

"Willow is _so_ going to _freak_," Cordelia remarked. "We may never get her back."

"And you guys were doing such a good job of un-Willowing her, too," Xander laughed. He shook his head, "I'll bet she blames part of it on the fashion makeover."

"Probably," Cordelia snickered, and cut it off abruptly when it threatened to turn into an ugly, broken sound. "Did you guys ever figure out why he picked _us_ for play toys?"

"No. Never," Xander shook his head. "Too busy trying to unscramble 'what and how' to worry about 'why'." His eyes narrowed and he added, "Oz and Jonathan came up with the Circe thing. Not sure if that explains it any."

"I'll ask Giles," she said. Cordelia laughed again, "Poor Oz - he's never going to be able to go back to being Mr. Slacker-Underachieving. Too many people know he's brilliant now. And poor Jonathan: he's managed to get dragged in with the rest of us freaks." She grinned, "How did you get Tamara involved?"

"She involved herself," Xander grinned back at her. "Her and Amy barged in demanding to know what was up and why we were sitting around with our thumbs up our butts."

"Oh, man! I'll bet Giles' expression was _priceless_," Cordelia snickered, starting to laugh harder.

"Oh yeah," Xander said, laughing. "We thought he was gonna have a very tweedy cow, right there on the research table."

"I'll bet," Cordelia said. "I'm not all right, but I will be. Thanks." Xander nodded, and she added, "A part of me desperately wants to open the gate and drive in, drag you into the pool house, and frantically make some good memories to scrub all this crap out of my brain."

Xander's eyebrows went up, and she shook her head. "And the parents are home, so that wouldn't fly."

"They are?" Xander glanced up the driveway to the house.

"Lights are on in Daddy's study and den. No one else goes up there," Cordelia said, nodding. "So... I'm going to settle for a long, hot bath, and putting on my pajamas and curling up in bed around that idiotic shaggy stuffed dog you won me at the Pier."

"Instead of around the shaggy, doglike idiot?" Xander asked, his mouth quirking up into a half grin.

"Yup. Instead of," she agreed. Cordelia frowned, her eyes troubled. "Faith."

"Is going to be freaked on a Willow level of freakage, I'm afraid," Xander said, his own eyes darkening.

"That bad?"

"That bad," Xander said, not volunteering anything further. Cordelia searched his face for long moments, then nodded.

"You should go after her and find her," she said, finally.

"Thought you said she needed alone time?" Xander's eyebrows drew downwards.

"She's had alone time," Cordelia stated. "And if it's that bad, now she needs friend and partner time." She locked his eyes, not breaking the gaze, "What was it your friend told Giles?"

"_Not_ a 'friend'," Xander stated, his voice emphatic. Nodding, he finished with, "We take care of our own?"

"Yup. That." Cordelia's lips quirked up at the corners in a half smile. "And I'd go with, but I'm not really hanging on too good here myself."

"All right," Xander drew a deep breath, and leaned over to kiss his girlfriend throughly. "I'm glad you're back," he said, leaning back to open the passenger door.

"Uh, how's the hip?" Cordelia examined him carefully.

"Heh. Funny - since Hideyoshi put his whammy to us, it hasn't hurt a bit," he said. "Go figure." Closing the door, he leaned over it for a second, drinking her in with his eyes before turning away. "See you tomorrow. Get better."

**................................................**

_From the personal Journals of Rupert Giles, Watcher:_

_And so the rather intense three day affair of our altered compatriots draws to a close, finally. And, best of all, with a successful resolution that did not entail losses amongst any of those afflicted by Mr. Hideyoshi's sorcery._

_(Please refer to the appended lengthy description of the course of events, my own observations, and description of our resolution of the nasty business in the latest section of my technical personal log for details - this personal journal is not the place for those notes.)_

_In all due honesty, it is only fair to note here that the resolution of this crisis owed very little to my own efforts and inputs, as much as I am chagrined to admit this. Rather, it was resolved through the efforts of those encompassed increasingly complex network of personal relationships surrounding my Slayer and her network of friend and partners - some of which predate Faith's arrival and can be traced back directly to Buffy Summers' impact upon these environs. I must commend Xander Harris and Daniel Osborne for taking it upon themselves to make competent and inspired use of the varied talents as they were presented with them. _

_I must also note that a great deal of that usage was accomplished despite my reservations. I find myself with more than a bit of consternation at the fact that I can see our small and tightly knit circle widening before my eyes to include new compatriots of unknown merit and uncertain discretion. There is nothing about this development that meets with the approval of my 'Inner Watcher', as it were, the part of myself that was thoroughly trained in the means and methods of supporting a Slayer in the field._

_A pity. I __had__ rather thought that I strangled that little bastard in its sleep some number of months ago. By now, one would think I should be rather well used to the fact that in practice, there is nothing about the practicalities of providing field support and guidance for a Slayer that is envisioned within the confines of traditional Watcher's training._

_Or so one would think. I must also admit that I meet these developments with a jaundiced view at best. Four teenagers plus a young Slayer were more than enough without adding additional teens to the mix. _

_It is with even deeper regret that I must also note here my deep disquiet stemming from my final conversation with two of young Xander's associates. 'Conversation' being an inadequate descriptive for the exchange, as it were..._

_Despite my best efforts, I continually encounter the indisputable fact of the matter that my efforts to break from my Watcher's indoctrination and attempt to meet with the requirements of the Hellmouth on its own terms are wholly inadequate, at best. At this writing, I cannot divorce myself from a feeling of deep shame and regret when recalling the words of Tor Hauer and Ms. Barrie to me upon my casual attempt to suggest my availability for discussion with them regarding lingering effects of their former hyena possession._

_A great length of time may pass before I am able to rid myself of the unease engendered by Tor Hauer's flat and chilling tone as he rebuffed my overture. Longer before I may forget the flat, impersonal, and casual dismissal in Ms. Barrie's eyes as she allowed that the time for such overtures had long since died aborning and they were no longer welcome._

_The shame enters when I realize that I cannot deny that there is indeed merit to their flat contempt regarding my belated inquiry. At the time of the occurrence, it had simply not entered my mind that outside of the confines of our group, there were four other children who might be in need of some overture of assistance in dealing with their own fallout from those events. Nor did it occur that such an offer was well demanded by my professionalism as a Watcher, if not by mere, basic humanity. I allowed my distaste for the circumstances of their actions while possessed to stand in the way of my duty as both Watcher and man, abandoning them to their own resources to deal with the after effects, and that is something that is simply unforgivable._

_It cannot help but occur to me that a part of my unease at widening our circle stems from the fact that young Amy Madison is yet another stark reminder of my failures. She also is another young individual that I left abandoned to her own devices following what surely had to be a traumatic experience with dark magic at her mother's hands. That she appears, outwardly at least, to seemingly have escaped without great maladjustment is entirely due to no efforts of myself - the supposed 'professional' at these matters within our group._

_Bear in mind that I speak here of my personal sense of professionalism, as opposed to the professional ethic ingrained into a Watcher - there is a difference._

_By the professional ethics of the Watcher's Council, I have done no wrong in any of these instances. I repeat: no wrong whatsoever. A Watcher is dedicated solely to the protection and enabling of his Slayer: to make certain that she is able to fight, and that she is unimpeded in that fight by interference from outsider's awareness of her struggles. It is a Watcher's task to assist in the maintenance of that secrecy at all costs,regardless of what that assistance my entail, nor how personally repugnant the Watcher may find those tasks. We are not charged with the protection of innocents in this war, merely with the preservation of the world and life through the destruction of that which threatens it._

_Quite simply: my avocation does not permit me the luxury of providing aid and succor to those innocents swept into the fight or damaged by it via the actions of forces not under their control. It is merely my ethic as a man that seems increasingly to demand that of me._

_And, to be honest, my intelligence and a rather remorseless sense of logic: if **we** who make this our avocation and profession do not attempt to salvage those touched by the darkness, then we potentially leave behind us the seeds of new enemies if those tainted become drawn deeper into its influences rather than finding within themselves the strength to withdraw on their own. There can be no clearer evidence than the two former Pack members and Ms. Madison themselves: it is apparent to the casual eye that Tor, Heidi, and Amy Madison have the potential to be very dangerous individuals. Turned to the path of an Ethan Rayne, for example, by lack of other influences, at some point they could prove to be deadly danger to both Slayer, Watcher, and bystander alike. Of what use is the Council's dedication if its ethic enables and encourages the breeding of new threats wherever its agents have pursued its letter?_

_However, be that as it may, my supposed personal professionalism seems to have been nowhere in evidence these past two years. I do quite wonder where it wandered off to, and if it may be possible to retrieve it before its loss becomes irrevocable. It is my earnest hope, no matter how futile it may prove, that I shall fare better at the tasks of helping those children who are directly under my care to deal with this latest of traumas. I wince upon considering what effects these past three days events must be having upon the minds and spirits of my Slayer and those associated with her - of all people, I am intimately familiar with the disquieting nature of possession effects._

_Being locked within one's own body, watching while something Other moves you about to its will is more than merely disquieting. 'Disquieting' is a soddingly inadequate term._

_I shudder to consider how my somewhat fragile Slayer is currently coping with the memories of whatever things passed between her and young Harris, in addition to the actions she was forced to commit whilst in combat. (I am aware that a great number of things were left unspoken in Xander's terse description of the events at Hideyoshi's residence.)_

_And, as if that were not sufficient, we still have the small matter of Dacascos' assassins to consider and deal with. I suppose that it says something remarkable about perspectives that, at the moment, I do consider it a 'small matter', at best._

_We potentially have much darker demons to potentially grapple with than mere assassins. May the gods help us._

_- Rupert Giles, Watcher; In this Year of Our Lord 1998, September the 17th._

**................................................**

_"It's always nice to see you, dear (I really haven't many friends)" -_

_**Thursday September 17, 1998; the Pier at Sunnydale Palisades, night.**_

"Hey."

For a long, long moment, he didn't think that the dark haired figure sitting cross legged at the end of the pier was going to acknowledge his soft spoken comment, or him. She hadn't acknowledged his approach as he'd slowly and casually made his ambling way down the long dock to the end.

Studying her, it struck him once again how startlingly small a girl Faith was when you really looked at her, especially when you had to look past the larger than life impact she projected on your mind's eye.

"How'd you find me?" Drawing up her legs in front of her, she wrapped her arms around them and leaned her chin on her knees, still looking out.

Xander took the calm question and the movement to be as much of an invitation as he was likely to get. Ambling the rest of the way up, he creakily took a seat on the dock boards next to her, a foot or so away.

"Oh," Xander made a vague gesture. "Followed my nose."

That got a sidelong flash of dark eyes, followed by a derisive sounding snort. No smile, small or otherwise.

"Ok, bad joke," Xander admitted. "Last place I looked. Went by your motel, the Bronze, Willy's, the diner, and all five main cemeteries," pausing, he added, "Then I remembered you liked the beach."

"Doofus." That came with another flash of dark eyes, followed by an almost inaudible, "How's Cordy?"

"Dealing." Xander shrugged. "I think she's more shook up than she's saying, but... what do I know about women?"

"Huh." That wasn't an agreement nor an argument. Xander sighed. Turning her head slightly, Faith met his eyes briefly. "Don't remember inviting you to sit."

"You didn't invite me not to," Xander pointed out. That got the expected snort, slightly better humored this time.

"Thought I said I wanted to be left alone," Faith remarked in a soft, casual tone. She might as well have been remarking on the quality of the waves beyond the pier.

"You did that," Xander agreed, nodding. "Only in the way that wasn't quite in those words, sorta." Turning his head to look at her directly, he stated, "I got to remembering that a couple of days ago, a friend of mind reminded me that partners and friends remember to take care of each other."

There was a long silence to that, followed by, "That was yesterday, goof."

Xander laughed softly, and ran a hand through his hair. He shrugged, "Yeah, well. It's been a really _long_ day."

Faith's laugh was soft, and strained, but still musical. "That it has." She turned her head again to look at him, not meeting his eyes. "I don't see how you can want to look at me after all that. Much less be here."

Shrugging again, Xander was quiet for a long time. Finally, "I tried to rape Buffy, that time when I was hyena ridden. And I savaged Willow pretty bad."

Faith's eyes came up to his and she stared at him. Xander hunched uncomfortably. "You guys didn't tell me that," she said.

"Yeah, well," Xander's face was expressionless. "_Not_ one of my finer moments."

After a long quiet moment, Faith nodded, still searching his eyes. "Right. So, how'd you stop?"

Shaking his head, Xander said. "Didn't. Buffy clocked me with a desk and locked me in the library cage."

Faith snickered, shaking her head. "That'd do it. You hit _me_ with a refrigerator."

"It was a small refrigerator?"

"Right." Turning back to the ocean, she rested her chin on her upraised knees again. "It wasn't the possession. I wanted to do that - _wanted_ you like that. I'd have done Cordy that way too, if she'd come there instead."

"No, it was the possession," Xander said, slowly. "And it was us, too. It kinda... dredged out things we wouldn't do, but maybe wanted, kinda, and did them for us."

"Like sitting inside your head watching yourself do something?" Faith's voice was quiet. At least she hadn't responded with 'bullshit', as Xander had half expected.

"And horrified because it might be something you _wanted_ to do, but you wouldn't have done it like _that_," Xander said, just as quietly. "Would you?" He flicked his gaze sidelong to watch her.

"No." Faith's voice was hesitant. After a moment, she moved her head up and down against her knees. "No," her voice was more decisive this time.

"Right." Xander nodded. "There you go." Something caught his eye, and he reached out hesitantly to trace the purplish outline of a bruise at the side of her forehead. "Was that from the fight?"

"No." Faith shook her head gently. After a bit, she said, "Demon. With some kind of bony crap on his head. Jumped me outside of the beach front district - I left his head on top of his chest."

"Ah." Xander considered that. "Nice of him to provide you some stress relief."

Nodding, Faith uncurled from her sitting position gracefully, rising to her feet in one smooth motion. Putting down a hand, she grasped Xander's when he put his up and hauled him up to his feet. "Thanks. For stopping me." She slid her arm around his waist and fell in beside him, turning back to the front of the pier.

"Partners do that," Xander said. "Or so I'm told."

Glancing up at him, Faith nodded, her face serious. Using her arm around his waist, she swung him around carefully and pushed him up against one of the pier uprights. Xander looked down at her, his eyebrows going up, and his expression startled as he grasped her gently by the arms.

Slowly, very carefully, Faith lifted herself on her toes and leaned in, her eyes very dark and very serious. Putting her hands on his shoulders, she pulled his head down to met hers, kissing him deeply, hungrily, and very intensely. Xander's hands jerked away from her as if she was scalding, his eyes wide and shocked as she pulled back.

"Whoa! Hey," Xander shrank back away as far as the pillar would let him. "Cordy... I... " Faith stopped him with a finger over his lips.

"That was _me_," she said, her eyes very bright, dark, and very intense. "Me. _Not_ something riding in my head and playing fucking _games_ with whatever it finds there. There's a difference." Her lips curling up at the corners, she cocked her head, watching him intently. "I had to know. Understand?" Dropping back down to her heels, she turned around slowly and leaned back against him, folding her arms under her breasts.

Very slowly, Xander brought his own arms back and wrapped them around her waist under hers. "Not a bit," he admitted. "But I'm kinda used to that by now."

After a long while, their heads turned to the sound of footsteps coming down the pier towards them, watching the approaching figure. Cordelia came to a stop next to them finally, wearing what had to be the brightest red blouse in her closet and a blindly white wrap-around sarong style skirt that revealed a long length of leg with every stride. She fixed them with a brilliant but slightly forced looking version of the megawatt grin, clutching a plastic bag casually in one hand.

"Hey."

"Hey, back," Faith nodded. "How'd you find us?"

"I uh, called her from the pier when I spotted you," Xander stated. Raising an eyebrow, he added, "Thought you'd be marinated and curled up in bed by now?"

Taking one of his hands and peeling it away from Faith's waist, Cordelia slipped into his arm on that side, bumping Faith with a hip. "Scoot over and share the Xander."

"Don't wanna," Faith grumbled, but she slid over and let Cordelia in, leaning against Xander's other side.

"Tough," Cordela stated. "Did. Then I decided I _really_ didn't want to spend time alone in my head right now. So... "

"So." Faith nodded. "Whatcha got in the bag?"

"Movies," Cordelia said, leaning up for a long kiss from Xander. Breaking off from it finally, she added, "'Pretty Woman' and 'Thelma and Louise'. Still early - I figured we'd go over to Joyce's, eat leftovers and ice cream, and get some surrogate mothering."

Faith's lips curled up at the corners and she nodded. Xander snorted, "Pretty Woman?"

"Don't whine," Cordelia said. "It has nude Julia Roberts in a bubble bath. And there's violence, car chases, and explosions for the Y-chromosomes."

"I withdraw my pathetic whining," Xander said. "I thought you were going to call Mrs. S to cancel?"

"Did." Cordelia nodded. "Called her back and asked if it was ok." She grinned, "Figured Faith and I needed to get in touch with our inner girls and our inner bitches more than we needed to mope tonight."

"Hah!" Faith shook her head, snickering. "Sounds good. But I didn't know you ever _lost_ touch with your inner bitch, Cordy."

"Well, it was touch and go there for a bit, but she yet lives," Cordelia allowed. Glancing up at Xander, she said softly, "It's like this for you all the time, isn't it?"

Xander's brows drew down for a long moment, then he puzzled it out and nodded. "Yeah."

Cordelia nodded, her eyes serious. Biting her lower lip gently, she said, "I didn't understand before." After a moment, she added, "Now I just wish I didn't."

Faith met her eyes across Xander's chest and nodded seriously as well, asking quietly, "Does it get easier?"

"No," Xander said after a long time. "But it gets dimmer."

***********************************************

**The End**

_**To be Continued in the Alternate BtVS Season 3 Episode 3: "A Face in the Crowd"**_

**................................................**

_**Author's Note:**__ the chapter titles - and some section headings - are slightly filked versions of the lyrics to "Counting Flowers on the Wall" by Lew DeWitt of the The Statler Brothers. The warped mind of the Author decided he liked the contrast of the sentiments with the events in the chapters they're heading._


End file.
